New Jersey senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker this afternoon voted “guilty” on the first article of impeachment (abuse of power) as Republicans mostly voted “not guilty” and ensured that the U.S. Senate would not eject President Donald J. Trump from office.

Democrats needed 67 votes to convict.

They fell far short.

The final tally was 48 to 52 on the first article of impeachment.

The vote was almost entirely along party lines.

Only Senator Mitt Romney, Republican from Utah, crossed the aisle to vote for impeachment with the Democrats.

Senator Angus King, independent from Maine, also voted “guilty.”

On the second article (obstruction of justice), senators voted almost exactly the same way, but this time Romney voted “not guilty.”

The final tally was 47 to 53.

The vote tallies resulted in the acquittal of the president.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in December of last year came to a different conclusion, declaring Trump guilty in connection with “his decision to withhold nearly $400 million in military aid from Ukraine while pressuring Ukrainian officials to probe his political rivals.”

Ahead of the impeachment vote, New Jersey’s Democratic senators explained their rationale for voting “guilty.”

“This is not an exoneration,” Menendez said, referring to Republicans’ opposition to impeachment. “It is the coronation of a king.”

This day will live on, he said, as a “day of constitutional infamy.”

“I will vote guilt ‘yes’ on articles of impeachment not because I hate this president, because I don’t, but because I love this country more,” Menendez added. “I took a vote to uphold the Constitution.”

Said Booker:

“I believe he abused the awesome power of his office for personal and political gain to pressure a foreign power to interfere in the most sacred institution of our democracy –our elections. He then engaged in a concerted far-reaching and categorical effort to cover up his transgressions and block any effort for the people’s representatives to have at the truth.”