Booker rival who shoots from the hip hopes viral debate moment can break GOPs Senate drought

A New Jersey attorney and former municipal official who made waves during his debate with Sen.Cory Booker, D- N.

J., said his unscripted style may be the secret sauce to making history and ending a Republican Senate drought in New Jersey that stretches back more than half a century.Justin Murphy, a Navy veteran and former deputy mayor of Tabernacle in the state’s Pine Barrens, stunned his incumbent Democratic opponent when, in response to a question about Iran War strategy, he bluntly said President Donald Trump should forcefully "finish it.""I don’t have a speechwriter.There’s no teleprompter — I shoot from the hip because I want people to see a very sincere, genuine and authentic Justin Murphy," Murphy told Fox News Digital.BOOKER 'WOWED' BY GOP CHALLENGER'S BLUNT MESSAGE TO TRUMPWinner of the Republican U.S.

Senate Primary in New Jersey on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.(Jersey Justin For Senate)"This came up.

And I had no idea it would become as viral or explode as it has on social media.It's what I felt.

I meant what I said.I said what I meant.

It wasn't planned to try to spark the reaction that we got… through social media."Clifford Case, the last Republican to represent the Garden State in the Senate, was last elected in 1972 – the same year Giants Stadium broke ground, years before the Jets joined the Giants in New Jersey and before NJ Transit was created.Murphy said that in his 60 years, he cannot remember a time when Iran’s support for terrorism, "export" of assassination or killing of its own people was not a feature of the nightly news."I think we have a president now that is breaking from the past, and he's no longer kicking the can down the road.And I think that's important that our young people know tomorrow that they will not have to worry about what the words ‘Strait of Hormuz’ mean when this is over."TRUMP IS DISMANTLING IRAN’S WAR MACHINE, BUT AMERICA STILL NEEDS AN ENDGAMESenator Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks alongside Democratic Sen...