Booker set to face Navy vet after former local NJ official lost in 2024 Senate race

Justin Murphy won New Jersey’s Republican U.S. Senate primary late Tuesday night, setting up a general election fight against Democratic Sen. Cory Booker in a state where Republicans have not won a U.S. Senate race since 1972.

The race was close among the top three candidates with 90% of the votes counted. Murphy was followed by suspended New Jersey State Trooper Richard Tabor, and former News 12 New Jersey reporter Alex Zdan. Physician Robert Lebovics finished last.

Murphy is an attorney and U.S. Navy veteran from Tabernacle, New Jersey, who previously served as a local committeeman and ran unsuccessfully for the GOP Senate nomination in 2024, finishing a distant third. He launched another campaign this cycle to take on Booker, casting himself as a conservative, pro-Trump grassroots candidate.

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Murphy faces an uphill but nationally watched race against Booker, a high-profile Senate Democrat and frequent Trump critic who is running unopposed on the Democratic side of the ticket as he seeks another term after first winning the seat in a 2013 special election. While Republicans are hoping to flip the seat, the party has not won a U.S. Senate race in the state since 1972.

Murphy, who describes himself as self-employed, is a former Tabernacle deputy mayor and a U.S. Navy veteran, according to the New Jersey Globe. He previously ran for the GOP Senate nomination in 2024, finishing far back in third, before launching another bid this cycle as a conservative candidate running on cleaning up his state's pollution, protecting it from ever-expanding windmill construction, parental rights, medical freedom and improving Medicare for seniors.

"I will convey my Conservative principles with confidence, energy, and optimism. The last time New Jersey elected a Republican to the US Senate was 1972; my campaign represents a new day in New Jersey politics," Murphy states on his campaign website. "Being self-employed, I can identify with middle-class voters. I know firsthand financial struggle, debt, and stress.  I know the long hours and countless weeks without a paycheck that many small business owners experience as a normal part of their working adult lives. Small business owners will have no better friend in Washington."  

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The GOP primary unfolded without an obvious Trump-backed favorite. Trump does not appear to have endorsed in New Jersey’s Republican Senate primary. His late New Jersey endorsements ahead of Tuesday’s primary went to House Republicans Tom Kean Jr., Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith.

Murphy received support from two county Republican organizations and ran in some counties under the slogan "American Conservative Republican," according to NJ Spotlight News’ 2026 U.S. Senate primary voter guide.

The general election will test whether Republicans can make inroads in a state that has remained stubbornly difficult for GOP Senate hopefuls.

Booker won re-election in 2020 by more than 16 points, and early race ratings have generally listed the seat as safely Democratic heading into November.