Booker set to face Navy vet after former local NJ official lost in 2024 Senate race

The race was close among the top three candidates with 90% of the votes counted. Murphy was followed by suspended New Jersey State Trooper Richard Tabor, and former News 12 New Jersey reporter Alex Zdan. Physician Robert Lebovics finished 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. He launched another campaign this cycle to take on Booker, casting himself as a conservative, pro-Trump grassroots candidate.

Murphy faces an uphill but nationally watched race against Booker, a high-profile Senate Democrat and frequent Trump critic who is running unopposed on the Democratic side of the ticket as he seeks another term after first winning the seat in a 2013 special election. While Republicans are hoping to flip the seat, the party has not 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 a U.S. Navy veteran, according to the New Jersey Globe. He previously ran for the GOP Senate nomination in 2024, finishing far back in third, before launching another bid this cycle as a conservative candidate running on cleaning up his state's pollution, protecting it from ever-expanding windmill construction, parental rights, medical freedom and improving Medicare for seniors.

The GOP primary unfolded without an obvious Trump-backed favorite. Trump does not appear to have endorsed in New Jersey's Republican Senate primary. His late New Jersey endorsements ahead of Tuesday's primary went to House Republicans Tom Kean Jr., Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith.

Murphy received support from two county Republican organizations and ran in some counties under the slogan "American Conservative Republican," according to NJ Spotlight News' 2026 U.S. Senate primary voter guide.

Booker won re-election in 2020 by more than 16 points, and early race ratings have generally listed the seat as safely Democratic heading into November.