Speed Reads

step one

Cory Booker launched his first campaign tour in Newark

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) held his first major rally as a Democratic presidential candidate on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, where he previously served as mayor for seven years.

At the event, he spoke about how his time in Newark has helped prepare him for the presidency.

The Newark rally is the beginning of a two-week national tour for Booker, who will then travel to Iowa, Georgia, and Nevada. The trip, operating under the moniker "Justice for All," will reportedly, per Reuters, focus on economic policies, including Booker's proposed "baby bonds" that would give every child in the United States a government-run savings account at birth.

Booker is in the middle of the pack in a crowded Democratic field, both in terms of fundraising and in early polls. But his campaign aides have dismissed concerns about either.