U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) announced today Hanna Mori will be taking over as State Director, effective Monday, February 4.  A veteran Booker administration staffer dating back to Booker’s mayoral administration in Newark, Mori most recently served as the Senator’s Deputy State Director – a role to be taken over by Booker’s current Projects Director, Zachary McCue.

“With over a decade of experience working on my teams, Hanna assumes the position as my most senior staffer in New Jersey with tremendous institutional knowledge, and more importantly, a demonstrated passion for public service and the people of New Jersey,” Booker said. “She is exceptionally smart, hardworking, and a talented manager, leading not only my team in the state, but also countless major projects for my office ranging everything from healthcare, to criminal justice reform, to immigration.

“I’m grateful to Hanna and Zach for their service and leadership,” Booker added. “While their respective roles may be new, our mission remains the same: to represent the needs and interests of the people in New Jersey to improve our quality of life. I am looking forward to working with them in their new roles.”

Mori has been a member of Booker’s Senate staff in New Jersey since November 2013. Most recently, Mori served as Deputy State Director. She started her career as an intern at Booker’s nonprofit Newark Now before being recruited by Newark City Hall, where she worked in several departments, including the Mayor’s Office, Business Administrator’s Office, Law Department, and the Office of Reentry. In 2013, she joined Booker’s first U.S. Senate campaign, where she helped develop his statewide and national policy platforms.

Mori is a long-time resident of Essex County, where she and her family settled after immigrating to the United States from a rural region of the Brazilian Amazon. She received her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 2010, and her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill in 2013. She is admitted to the bars of New Jersey and New York.

Effective Monday, February 4, Zachary McCue will assume the role of Deputy State Director. McCue has been a member of Booker’s state staff since 2014, and recently served as Projects Director, overseeing the policy and outreach team with a focus on the Environment, Energy, Transportation, and Infrastructure portfolios.  With nearly a decade of experience in federal policy, Zach has served on Governor Murphy’s Environment and Energy Transition Advisory Committee, was named to InsiderNJ’s 100 Policymakers in 2018, and previously worked for the late U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg.  Zach holds a BA in Political Science from Penn State University.  He is originally from Monmouth County and lives in Cranford with his wife and young son.