 Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan talks to the media at the Bogota Recreation Center after he voted with his daughter Brooke, left, and wife, Lorraine, in the special election primary in... (Associated Press) 
 
 A rising star in the Democratic Party and a Republican former mayor won their parties' primaries on Tuesday to set up a campaign of political and stylistic contrasts as they seek to fill the final 15 months of the term of the late U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.  By Matt Friedman and David Giambusso/The Star-Ledger 
 
 NEWARK — Newark Mayor Cory Booker has easily prevailed in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary tonight, the Associated Press projects. Rush Holt and Frank Pallone, who had the support of Lautenberg's family, and state Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver _ in a Democratic primary that may have been more competitive had the field been less crowded. Chris Christie scheduled the primaries for Tuesday and a special election for Oct. 16, 20 days before the voting day on which he's seeking re-election. Booker ran with the support of New Jersey's Democratic establishment and celebrities from across the country. Mr. Booker lost that race, but four years later won his second bid for the office and later a second term. His campaign hit its bumpiest patch in its final two weeks, when the New York Times raised questions about a tech company he founded, Waywire. For Booker, the new opponent means needing to gird himself for attacks from the right after spending an abbreviated primary campaign being criticized from the left by opponents. He also had kind words for his new opponent, Lonegan, a conservative activist, the former mayor of Bogota, and an aggressive campaigner who has been blasting Booker for weeks already.
– No contest: Cory Booker won the Democratic primary for a Senate seat in New Jersey so easily tonight that the AP called it just 45 minutes after the polls closed and with just 7% of returns in, reports the Star-Ledger. The Newark mayor beat two congressmen and the state Assembly speaker. Booker hopes to serve the final 15 months of the late Frank Lautenberg's term. On the Republican side, former Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan easily won his race as well. The special election is Oct. 16. New Jersey voters have elected Democrats to the Senate for the last four decades, and the New York Times has Booker as the "heavy favorite." Quotes from the winning candidates: Booker: “Make me your senator, New Jersey, and I will be unwavering in my focus on finding common ground. I will not be concerned with right or left but going forward.” Lonegan: “I intend to run a line-in-the-sand campaign between a conservative and an extreme liberal. The differences could not be clearer.”