Booker raises enormous $10 million in wake of marathon Senate speech

Senator Cory Booker’s marathon Senate speech, in which he spent 25 consecutive hours on the Senate floor on March 31 and April 1 decrying the policies of President Donald Trump, earned him goodwill from Democrats nationwide looking for someone to fight back against the White House. It also earned Booker’s campaign a tremendous amount of money.

Booker, who will be on the ballot for re-election to the Senate in 2026 and who may be interested in running for president again in 2028, raised a whopping $10 million in the second quarter of 2025. Around $9.7 million of that went towards Booker’s own campaign account, with the rest going towards his affiliated Booker Victory Fund account.

“This level of grassroots support reflects the energy and hunger for Cory’s kind of leadership in this pivotal moment – a willingness to stand up for what’s right no matter how tough or how long the fight,” Booker campaign manager Adam Silverstein said. “We’re grateful for this tremendous support, and will continue building the campaign infrastructure needed to win in 2026 and support Democrats running up and down the ticket.” 

76% of Booker’s donors, his campaign said, donated less than $25, and more than 200,000 unique donors gave contributions. The senator ended Q2 with $19.6 million cash-on-hand.

Many of those small donations likely came in the days after Booker took to the Senate floor for more than a day, an event that drew national headlines – Booker beat segregationist Strom Thurmond’s record for longest-ever Senate speech – and made him, at least temporarily, the face of the Democratic resistance to Trump. (The timing of the donations won’t be known for sure until Booker files his report with the Federal Election Commission.)

A strong fundraiser ever since his first Senate victory in a 2013 special election, Booker is unlikely to be seriously challenged for re-election next year. Booker won all three of his prior Senate elections by double digits, and although New Jersey shifted to the right in last year’s presidential election, it will be an uphill battle for any Republican seeking to run against him – especially considering the enormous warchest he’s amassed.

(So far, no Republican has announced a campaign – nor has any Democratic primary challenger – though some GOP names like former State Sen. Ed Durr and interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba have been floated around.)

But Booker’s stature and responsibilities extend beyond just his own re-election campaign in New Jersey. He has been the number-four Democrat in the Senate since the beginning of this year, leading the caucus’s new Strategic Communications Committee, and he’s also taken on a role in past cycles raising money for his vulnerable colleagues in swing states.

And, of course, there’s the 2028 presidential election looming on the horizon. During Booker’s prior run for president in 2020, he transferred most of his Senate campaign money into his presidential account when he entered the race, but the transfer only totaled $2,725,000 (he also refunded another $1,047,184 so that those donors could contribute to his presidential campaign). Given Booker’s Q2 haul this year, if he runs for president again in 2028, he may have quite a bit more money immediately at his disposal.