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Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks during a tea party rally in 2011.

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

TRENTON — Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor, is set to become the latest conservative to endorse Steve Lonegan in New Jersey's special U.S. Senate race, The Star-Ledger has learned.

Lonegan, a conservative Republican activist running against Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker, said his campaign will officially announce the news Thursday morning.

Palin will not visit New Jersey for the announcement, nor is she scheduled to stump for Lonegan here, the campaign said.

"She's doing a big push for me through Facebook and Twitter," Lonegan said. "It helps to ignite even more money coming in (to the campaign). It will help galvanize more attention to this national race."

Lonegan, the former mayor of Bogota, has been facing an uphill battle against Booker, a celebrity politician in a heavily Democratic state. The two are running in the Oct. 16 election to fill the final 14 months of the U.S. Senate term vacated after Frank Lautenberg's death.

But Lonegan has drawn endorsements from Gov. Chris Christie, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Paul and Perry have also visited New Jersey to campaign for him.

Lonegan, who has spent weeks waging a fierce grassroots campaign criticizing Booker, has also made inroads in recent polls, which show him only 12 or 13 points behind.

Over the last two months, Lonegan has raised $1.35 million, while Booker has brought in $2.85 million, according to their campaigns.

Palin, one of the most famous politicians associated with the tea party movement, rose to national fame as U.S. Sen. John McCain's running mate in the 2008 presidential election.

After resigning as Alaska's governor in 2009, she went on to become a television analyst for Fox News.

Booker's campaign was quick to respond tonight.

"If voters had any doubt about how out of touch Steve Lonegan's values are with the values of most New Jerseyans, Sarah Palin's endorsement puts that to rest," Kevin Griffis, a Booker spokesman, said. "Like Mr. Lonegan, she wants to ban abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, doesn't believe in climate change and opposes common sense measures to make our streets safer, like expanded background checks for gun purchases."

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