Sen. Cory Booker uses filibuster on Senate floor to push through spending cuts
The Senate filibuster by Sen. Cory Booker addressed potential cuts to government spending from Medicaid to Social Security.
- Booker and Lewis met in May 2024 through a mutual friend and got engaged in August.
- Booker was previously in a high-profile relationship with actress Rosario Dawson, but they broke up in 2022.
Sen. Cory Booker is officially off the market.
The 56-year-old senior senator from New Jersey got married last week in two private ceremonies.
Booker and Alexis Lewis were married on November 24 in a courtroom ceremony officiated by Judge Julian Xavier Niels of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Booker’s office confirmed that the couple provided pastries from Calandra’s Bakery and a vegan chocolate chip cookie dough cake from Papa Ganache Project in Matawan, New Jersey.
On Saturday, the couple held a secular wedding in Washington. The wedding, first reported by the New York Times, was attended only by family and was officiated by Booker’s pastor of 30 years, the Rev. David Jefferson of Metropolitan Baptist Church in Newark, and his longtime friend Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz of Temple B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills.
“We said ‘I do’ in two places that shaped us: Cory’s beloved Newark and Alexis’ hometown of Washington, D.C., first at the courthouse and then with our families. Our hearts are full and we are so grateful,” Booker posted on Facebook on Sunday, Nov. 30.
Lewis, 38, is Jewish, while Booker is Christian.
The couple married in a Jewish wedding tradition called chuppah, holding up photos of their grandparents and deceased ancestors. The band played Mariah Carey’s “Emotion” while breaking glass.
“Our wedding was a reflection of our relationship, magically meaningful, and strengthened by the extraordinary support of our friends and family,” said Booker, who chairs the Senate Democratic Strategic Communications Committee. “Alexis and I feel truly blessed to be starting this new chapter surrounded by so much love.”
Lewis is a real estate investment expert
The two were introduced in May 2024 by a mutual friend who is known for being a good matchmaker.
Lewis, a real estate investment professional and native of Washington, was living in Los Angeles at the time. While visiting family in Washington, a friend suggested they go on a blind date.
Their meeting lasted more than five hours. Booker invited her to meet him again the next night, but she declined. She had a work meeting in Newark and had to fly out the next day.
But the former Newark mayor, known for his impassioned speeches, persuaded her to change her flight so they could meet again. “The second date was even more magical,” the couple reported.
They enjoyed dinner at Mompou in Newark, saw the Broadway show “Suffus” in New York City, and ended the night with a romantic stroll through Newark. During the walk, Booker shared the places that shaped his life, including his first kiss outside the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Newark.
They lived together in April and raised a shepherd mongrel named Cook. They hope to foster more dogs.
“Early in our relationship, I had a bittersweet moment of sadness when my father realized he would never meet the woman I would marry,” Booker said.
“But Alexis is exactly the kind of woman my father wanted me to be,” he said. “I often joke with her that she and my dad have so much in common that I’m sure he’ll be smiling and laughing in heaven.”
Proposal on a trip to Hawaii
During a trip to Hawaii on August 24, Booker surprised Alexis by proposing to her. Although he had convinced her he wasn’t planning to propose due to work, he created an elaborate moment using Native Hawaiian musicians and hula dancers.
They played one of her all-time favorite songs, Mariah Carey’s “Dream Lover.” Booker knelt down and popped the question.
In a post on social media after their engagement, Booker called Lewis “one of the greatest blessings I never had in my life,” and said she “transformed me and helped me ground and center my inner life.”
Before meeting Lewis, Booker was named one of Town & Country’s Top 40 Bachelorettes and was in a high-profile relationship with actress Rosario Dawson that lasted two years and ended in 2022.
Booker, a Democrat, made history in early March when he delivered a marathon speech on the Senate floor in which he railed against the Trump administration for more than 25 hours. This became the longest speech ever recorded in the U.S. Senate.
Booker grew up in the leafy New Jersey suburb of Harrington Park and was a standout football player at Old Tappan High School. He won an athletic scholarship to Stanford University and later attended Oxford University in England on a Rhodes Scholarship.
He then attended Yale Law School and then moved to Newark. After serving as mayor, he was first elected to the Senate in 2013.
On Sunday, X and other social media outlets flooded with well-wishes, including Sen. Andy Kim, who tweeted, “So happy for Cory and Alexis! Their love fills the room with joy every time I see them together. We celebrate their beautiful journey together.”
Ms. Lewis said her relationship with Ms. Booker developed “quickly, deliberately, and somehow easily.”
“I’ve been alone for so many years that I don’t know if I ever believed I would get married,” she said. “But now, after an epic personal journey, we’ve found each other at this stage in our lives, and it’s worth celebrating.
“Sharing joy doubles the joy, and that’s what our whole relationship felt like,” she said.
