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Justin Murphy will battle Cory Booker in November after winning GOP primary race

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Justin Murphy won the New Jersey Republican U.S. Senate primary late Tuesday night, setting up a general election challenge against Democratic Sen. Cory Booker in a state where Republicans haven’t won a U.S. Senate race since 1972.

With 90% of the votes counted, the race between the top three candidates has become close. Murphy was followed by suspended New Jersey State Trooper Richard Tabor and former News 12 New Jersey reporter Alex Zdan. Doctor Robert Lebovics came in last.

Murphy is an attorney and U.S. Navy veteran from Tabernacle, New Jersey, who previously served as a local committeeman and ran unsuccessfully for the GOP Senate nomination in 2024, finishing a distant third. During this period, he launched another campaign against Booker, portraying himself as a conservative, pro-Trump grassroots candidate.

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U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, (left) will face Justin Murphy (right), who won the U.S. Senate GOP primary in New Jersey on Tuesday night (Jersy Justin for Senate/Getty Images)

Murphy faces an uphill but nationally watched race against Booker, a high-profile Senate Democrat and frequent critic of Trump who is running unopposed on the Democratic side for another term after first winning the seat in a 2013 special election. While Republicans hope to flip the seat, the party hasn’t won a U.S. Senate race in the state since 1972.

Murphy, who describes himself as self-employed, is a former Tabernacle deputy mayor and U.S. Navy veteran, according to the New Jersey Globe. He previously ran for the GOP Senate nomination in 2024, finishing in third place and launching another bid this cycle as a conservative candidate seeking to clean up his state’s pollution, protect the state from ever-expanding windmill construction, support parental rights, medical freedom and improve Medicare for seniors.

Won the Republican US Senate Primary Election in New Jersey on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Jersey Justin for the Senate)

“I will convey my conservative principles with confidence, energy and optimism. New Jersey last elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 1972; my campaign represents a new day in New Jersey politics,” Murphy states on his campaign website. “Being self-employed, I can identify with middle-class voters. I know firsthand the financial struggle, debt, and stress. I know the long hours and countless weeks without a paycheck that many small business owners experience as a normal part of their working adult lives. Small business owners will not have a better friend in Washington.”

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The GOP primaries took place without an obvious favorite backed by Trump. Trump does not appear to have endorsed the New Jersey Republican Senate primary. His final endorsements in New Jersey ahead of Tuesday’s primary went to House Republicans Tom Kean Jr., Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith.

According to NJ Spotlight News’ 2026 U.S. Senate primary voter guide, Murphy has received support from two county Republican organizations and is running in some counties under the slogan “American Conservative Republican.”