Cory Booker presidential campaign, 2020

The 2020 presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Cory Booker was announced on February 1, 2019. Booker participated in five Democratic presidential debates, but failed to qualify for the sixth debate. He suspended his campaign on January 13, 2020 and later endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, who went on to win the Democratic nomination and the general election. Background In 2018, Politico identified Booker as part of the "Hell-No Caucus." Along with Senators Harris, Gillibrand, Warren and Sanders, he had voted overwhelmingly against Trump nominees for administration jobs. All five of the Senators in this group were considered potential 2020 presidential contenders. Booker was widely expected to run for president in 2020. His idealistic rhetoric and vocal defense for the rights of black people, women, and LGBT people (groups who tend to belong to the Democratic Party's base) in hearings dating back to 2017 had been seen as positioning for a 2020 run. Booker had openly considered a presidential bid as early as September 2018. He began making trips to early campaign locations in 2018 and early 2019.