Mr. Booker’s arrival in Washington did not come with the same political portent rendered by another high-profile senator who arrived here via a special election – one Scott Brown, Republican of Massachusetts, whose 2010 victory signaled the ensuing influence of the Tea Party movement, cost Democrats a 60-vote supermajority and placed a Republican in the seat held by Edward M. Kennedy for nearly half a century. (Mr. Brown went on to lose to Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2012, thus ending his swing-vote-laden tenure.)
But Mr. Booker was met with a fair amount of hoopla from his fellow Democrats, whose excitement seemed to stem less from the fact that, after the June death of Frank R. Lautenberg, their party maintained the seat – which had been expected – but rather at his significant national star wattage and the fund-raising potential it may bring. Mr. Booker joins Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who was appointed by Gov. Nikki Haley earlier this year to replace Jim DeMint, who retired, as one of only two African-American senators.
As a mere handful of his colleagues trickled into the chamber — joined by several African-American members of the House, who came for the moment — Mr. Booker walked around the chamber, guided by Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. The junior senator from New Jersey greeted his new colleagues just before noon. Mr. Scott was the first Republican to come into the chamber, and sat smiling at his desk before greeting Mr. Booker. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. then administered the brief oath before welcoming him as those gathered applauded.
It will be up to Mr. Booker to determine the sort of public swath he wishes to cut in Congress. Will he seek to emulate other already-famous politicians like Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Al Franken of Minnesota or Ms. Warren, who generally have kept low profiles and avoided the media, focusing instead on legislation? (Mr. Franken has refused to speak to the press outside of his home state long after his opinion was of great interest. Ms. Warren remains a largely silent curiosity outside of the committee rooms.)
Or will he take his cues from newcomers like the Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, who though they arrived in the Senate less known, have used their new platforms to establish themselves in short order as national figures, drawing criticism from colleagues for ignoring Senate protocol?
Mr. Booker, whose bright purple tie marked him already as a semi-exciting fashion force in the upper chamber, began his morning with a photo opportunity before three American flags with Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, along with Mr. Booker’s mother, Carolyn Booker.
The three entered the camera-packed tiny ceremonial office off the Senate chamber through a door flanked by oil-paint portraits of John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt, heroes of the Democratic Party. Mr. Reid declined to take questions, and his newest acolyte also kept silent. “Cory will have plenty of time,” Mr. Reid assured the assembled press, before praising Ms. Booker for living in Las Vegas. Mr. Booker laughed as the cameras clicked and the videotape whirred, and 50 seconds later, he beat a retreat from the room.
After he was sworn in, the Senate moved on to other business. Mr. Booker stood in the well for the first roll call vote of his Senate career — a procedural motion on nomination — and appeared astonished and mildly afraid when his name was called.
Mr. Booker is set to visit with President Obama at the White House on Thursday afternoon, a rare treat for a freshman senator.
The special election – far less common for senators than House members – was held for Mr. Lautenberg’s seat after Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey opted to let voters, rather than himself, fill the seat. But Mr. Christie’s largess did not extend to his own election, which is set for next month; perhaps fearing that Mr. Booker would attract too many Democrats to the polls, he scheduled a special election just weeks before his own at considerable cost to taxpayers in his state.
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