early and awkward

Cory Booker’s Old Building Now a ‘Crack House,’ Says Desperate Rival

Newark Mayor Corey Booker greets people at the Hoboken PATH station after winning the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on August 14, 2013 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Booker will face off in a special October election against Republican challenger former Bogota, NJ mayor Steve Lonegan to fill the empty U.S. Senate seat left formerly held by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died on June 3rd.
Photo: Michael Bocchieri/Getty Images

New Jersey Republican Steve Lonegan’s political dog whistles are not very subtle. Following up on the insinuation that his fellow Senate candidate Cory Booker is kinda gay, the manly Lonegan will host an event today “in front of Cory Booker’s abandoned property, now a crack house.” The New York Post reported that the Newark place, which Booker bought in 2009 and sold recently for $1 to his own nonprofit, is overrun by “squatters in the yard, people using drugs,” according to neighbors. And yet the last Booker scandal — which has yet to dent his huge lead in the race — was that he didn’t know a drug dealer. Which is it, Cory Booker? Do you love drug dealers or not? The people need to know.

Cory Booker’s Old Building Now a ‘Crack House’