NEWARK — Steve Lonegan is suing Cory Booker for the Newark mayor's city expense records, citing "the Booker administration's failure to comply with the Open Public Records Act," according to an e-mail issued tonight by Lonegan's Senate campaign.

Lonegan is battling Booker for the late Frank Lautenberg's U.S. Senate seat. He has been demanding copies of Booker's expense reports for weeks but said he has been stymied by the Booker administration.

On Thursday, Lonegan, the Republican former mayor of Bogota, will take to the steps of Newark City Hall in a 1 p.m. press conference to formally announce his intention his intention to sue Newark for the records.

James Allen, a spokesman for the administration said Booker never had a city credit card and never filed reimbursements with the city during his seven-year tenure.

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