Sanders campaign chief taking on Booker in Senate primary

The chairman of Bernie Sanders’ New Jersey campaign filed nominating petitions today to challenge incumbent Cory Booker in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

Lawrence Hamm said he filed over 2,500 signatures, considerably more than the 1,000 required by state election law.

It is not immediately clear if Hamm will bracket with Sanders on the June 2 primary election ballot.  Most Democratic organizations appear to be awarding their lines to Booker and Joe Biden.

The 65-year-old Hamm heads the People’s Organization for Progress and is a longtime progressive activist.

He began his political career in 1971 while attending Arts High School in Newark and let a student protest at the Gateway Hotel.

Hamm captured the attention of Newark Mayor Kenneth Gibson, who appointed Hamm, then just 17-years-old, to a seat on the Newark Board of Education.   He became the nation’s youngest voting school board member and served from 1971 to 1974.