Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon has injected a dose of Hollywood star power — and a pointed rebuke of the political establishment — into New Jersey’s Democratic primary, throwing financial support behind long-shot candidate Lisa McCormick in her bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Cory Booker.
Sarandon donated a modest sum to McCormick’s campaign and appeared with the progressive champion at a Manhattan house party in the home of environmental lawyer Steven Donziger, moves that carry the weight of a fierce political endorsement.
The contribution unites two native daughters of Edison Township in a shared goal: retiring a senator they argue has failed his state and his party on the most critical issues of the day.
For Sarandon, a graduate of Edison High School, backing Booker’s challenger is the latest chapter in a decades-long history of activism that has dovetailed with McCormick’s own insurgent campaigns.
She previously backed McCormick’s 2018 primary challenge against disgraced former US Sen. Bob Menendez, a race in which McCormick stunned observers by capturing nearly 40% of the vote against the scandal-plagued incumbent, who was later convicted on federal corruption charges and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
McCormick’s campaign frames the alliance as a stark contrast between a grassroots movement and a compromised political brand.
McCormick, a newspaper publisher who graduated from J.P. Stevens High School, paints Booker as a reliable vote for the establishment whose record is at odds with the progressive values he espouses on the campaign trail.
The criticism centers on a series of votes that have left progressives fuming.
In May 2025, Booker was the sole Democrat to vote with Republicans to confirm Charles Kushner — a convicted felon and the father of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner — as U.S. ambassador to France. The nomination, which critics called an affront to diplomatic norms, passed 51-45, with every other Democrat in opposition.
McCormick’s campaign has seized on the vote as evidence of a moral failing, noting that Kushner pleaded guilty in 2005 to 18 counts, including tax evasion and witness retaliation in a scheme involving a prostitute.
“Senator Cory Booker joined Trump’s opposition to congestion pricing, supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and advocating dangerous cryptocurrency legislation,” said McCormick, who challenged the incumbent to name one issue where he beat Trump.
Booker’s record on Israel has become a central flashpoint. Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, he has consistently voted to approve weapons sales to Israel, including packages of 1,000-pound bombs and assault rifles, even as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced millions.
In July 2025, he voted against resolutions led by Sen. Bernie Sanders to block more than $675 million in arms sales, arguing that restricting such transfers would undermine U.S. diplomatic leverage.
His votes stand in contrast to those of New Jersey’s other senator, Andy Kim, who has voted to block such sales, and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, the only member of the state’s congressional delegation to call the war in Gaza a genocide.
Sarandon has been equally outspoken on the issue. In May 2021, she tweeted her support for Palestinians “fighting against the apartheid government of Netanyahu,” while also expressing hope for Israeli peace.
Her activism has long extended beyond the screen. A UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador appointed in 1999, she was arrested in 2018 during a sit-in at the Hart Senate Office Building protesting the Trump administration’s family separation policy.
McCormick is running on a platform that includes capping personal wealth at $100 million, firing Sen. Chuck Schumer as leader, and prosecuting fossil fuel executives for climate disinformation.
She has accused the senator of amassing a war chest of nearly $100 million over his career, funded by Wall Street and more than four dozen billionaires, while working families in New Jersey lost ground with every step Booker took on the political ladder.
Booker’s vocal criticism of President Donald Trump has not translated into resistance.
“Senator Cory Booker joined Trump’s opposition to congestion pricing, military weapons supporting genocide in Gaza, and dangerous cryptocurrency legislation,” said McCormick. “Senator Booker was the only Democrat who voted to confirm criminal Trump in-law Charles Kushner, and he also voted to confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.”
The primary on June 2 will test whether that message resonates. McCormick’s “Democrats for Change” slate has recruited other candidates, including Marine veteran Shawn Scott, who is challenging Rep. Herb Conaway in the 3rd Congressional District.
McCormick acknowledges hers is a long-shot campaign against a well-funded incumbent, but one that Sarandon’s donation and recent history have thrust into the spotlight.
For McCormick, the calculation is simple: “The house is on fire, and they’re worried about the drapes,” she said in a recent interview.