“Cory Booker is always looking for the next best thing,” said Arango in a statement. “That’s not Stuart Meissner. Stuart’s only focus will be on New Jersey—and not on higher office. He’s a different kind of candidate who will clean up our state that has been left badly broken by greed and corruption. We deserve a problem-solver who cares about the hard-working people of the Garden State. We need a Republican who will unify all our members as the Party of Growth Opportunity and Prosperity—that’s our next Senator, Stuart Meissner.”

The son of a Jewish immigrant who fled Nazi Germany a day after Kristallnacht, Meissner  started his career as a prosecutor, first in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and then in the New York Attorney General’s Office. He prosecuted cases involving armed robbery, gun violence, domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, child pornography, statutory rape, financial frauds, credit card frauds, large narcotics sales, investor frauds, and quality of life crimes.

After leaving the Attorney General’s office, he opened a private law firm. His whistleblower representation led to a $90 million-dollar fine against Monsanto, the mega agribusiness and chemical company, and a $22.5 million-dollar reward to his client.

Other Republican candidates looking to take on Booker next year include engineer Hirsh Singh, and Tricia Flanagan.