By David Giambusso and Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger

NEWARK — Cory Booker's star-quality and his skill at surviving the roughhouse politics of New Jersey's biggest city took him from the mayor's office to the U.S. Senate today in a hard-fought victory over Republican iconoclast Steve Lonegan.

With his special-election win, Booker will become the first African-American to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate, and is the first Newark mayor to win higher office in more than a century. He also extended the Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate race winning streak to 14 elections in New Jersey, dating back to 1976.

The Newark mayor will serve the remaining 15 months of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s term after a two-month campaign marked by bizarre turns, wild accusations, erratic polling numbers and blistering attacks.

Booker won by double digits, but it wasn't the landslide many had predicted at the beginning of the campaign. With 94 percent of the precincts reporting, he had about

55 percent of the vote to Lonegan's 44 percent.

From the outset, the 44-year-old, two-term mayor had one advantage his conservative firebrand opponent could never hope to match: name recognition. From city hall to the morning talk shows, Booker’s good looks, big smile and his championing of his beleaguered city won him plenty of big name fans — and evidently the approval of Jersey voters who elected him in a rare October election with light turnout.

Booker’s victory thrilled about 200 supporters at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center tonight.

“Thank you New Jersey!” Booker shouted to the crowd.

He first paid tribute to Lautenberg, saying, “We are a better state, we are a better nation, because of his service.”

Then Booker stressed that despite the divisions in Washington, “We are all in this together.”

“I’ve heard it all over New Jersey, north to south, urban to suburban to rural, Democrats, independents and Republicans,” Booker said. “I heard it from everyone: ‘We put you in Washington, don’t go down there to score victories for a party or politics. Go down there to work for people.’”

Lonegan, a tea party favorite who is more conservative than most leading New Jersey Republicans, told supporters in Bridgewater: “We put together a phenomenal campaign over the last four months. We came well closer to winning this election than anyone ever expected.

“Unfortunately for whatever reason, the message we delivered together with so much energy and so much passion did not win the day,” Lonegan said. Then drawing laughs, he said: “I said to myself who wants that job anyway?”

Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” was played at the end of his speech.

Booker will replace interim U.S. Sen. Jeffrey Chiesa, who was appointed by Gov. Chris Christie. It was unclear tonight when Booker would take office.

But despite the show of support from New Jersey voters, the Booker brand took a hit at the hands of Lonegan, who proved a more formidable opponent than political experts, and perhaps Booker himself, at first assumed.

“Clearly he got a little beat up,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. “Clearly he exposed some of his weaknesses as a politician.”

Using simple, low-fi tactics, bringing the fight to Booker’s door, Lonegan raised questions about everything from the mayor’s record as mayor to his personal finances to his residency in Newark, tainting the halo Booker had fashioned for himself as the tweet-happy mayor who rescues dogs and neighbors from peril.

Booker, however, had name recognition, and his fundraising prowess gave him an 8-to-1 advantage over Lonegan: $11.2 million to $1.35 million as of Oct. 4, records show.

Statewide discontent with Republicans also put some wind in Booker’s sails. Both men sought to use the federal shutdown in their campaigns, but Lonegan’s unabashed support may have cost him.

Booker continually hammered Lonegan as “extreme” and part of the problem that has caused political paralysis in Washington. A Rutgers Eagleton poll released today showed 52 percent of those surveyed blamed the GOP for the federal government shutdown, while 19 percent blamed President Obama and 5 percent blamed congressional Democrats. Another 20 percent blamed everyone.

Lonegan favored overturning Roe vs. Wade, opposed gay marriage, said he had “mixed feelings” about allowing gay couples to adopt, and has called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme.” He emphasized Booker’s political alliance with President Obama, and tied the two together as one and the same. He called the president a “tyrant,” Obamacare a “train wreck.” He also poked fun at Booker’s penchant for the social media website Twitter, saying, “We need a leader, not a tweeter.”

In August, Booker had more than a 30-point lead in some polls. Last week polls had his margin of victory between 10 and 12 points. Booker did not help his cause when he left the state for more than a week on a West Coast fundraising swing, leaving his aides to answer Lonegan’s relentless attacks.

Still, Booker’s built-in advantages were nearly impossible for Lonegan to overcome. The state has 700,000 more Democrats than Republicans.

Booker’s presence in the Senate will not bolster Democrats’ numbers, but his high-profile and speaking skills may make him an attractive mouthpiece for the White House and Democrats, especially on issues he has advocated for such as gun control, immigration reform, gay marriage and gender equality.

“He’s incredibly articulate and he can be very compelling when he’s at his best,” Zelizer said. “I think (the White House) wants to use him as a new voice, a new face in Senate politics that might be even more powerful now.”

Booker’s election also sets off a chain reaction in Newark. His staff has said Booker will not step down until shortly before he is sworn in to the Senate. Once that happens, City Council President Luis Quintana becomes acting mayor.

From there, the council will have 30 days to vote for an interim mayor, who can be any Newark resident. A special election for the at-large council seat, vacated last year when Rep. Donald Payne Jr. was elected to Congress, will happen Nov. 5 within the 30-day margin.

No one knows for certain if the council will vote before it has full membership, but whomever it picks finishes out Booker’s term until the May 2014 municipal election. Quintana has shown an interest in being voted in. Business Administrator Julien Neals is also in the mix.

Cory Booker defeats Steve Lonegan in race for US Senate 14 Gallery: Cory Booker defeats Steve Lonegan in race for US Senate

Star-Ledger staff writers Susan K. Livio and Salvador Rizzo contributed to this report.

RELATED COVERAGE

• Live coverage: Booker defeats Lonegan in U.S. Senate election

• Final stretch: Booker, Lonegan trek across N.J. before today's U.S. Senate election

• Complete coverage of the 2013 special U.S. Senate election



FOLLOW STAR-LEDGER POLITICS: TWITTER • FACEBOOK • GOOGLE+