Booker wants female running mate: ‘There will be a woman on the ticket’

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Presidential candidate Cory Booker reveals he'll be looking 'to women first' when selecting a running mate

Shouldn't Booker just choose the most qualified person? Suzanne Johnson Cook reacts.

LEBANON, N.H. – Sen. Cory Booker suggested Friday that he would plan on selecting a woman as his running mate if he wins the Democratic presidential nomination.

“I am very confident that this election, we will make history, because no matter what, I'm looking you in the eye and saying this, there will be a woman on the ticket. I don't know if it's in the vice president's position or the president's position,” Booker, D-N.J., said Friday morning at a campaign event in New Hampshire.

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“If I have my way, there will be a woman on the ticket,” Booker added.

The crowded field of Democratic contenders – which stands at 13 declared candidates and two who’ve launched presidential exploratory committees – includes a number of women.

On the list: Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, as well as Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and best-selling spiritual author Marianne Williamson.

Hillary Clinton made history in the 2016 election as the first female nominee of a major political party. In 1984, then-Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York became the first major party vice-presidential nominee.

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Booker’s latest trip to New Hampshire – the state that holds the first primary in the race for the White House – came amid a horrific mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand. Booker called the violence a “vicious, white supremacist, anti-Islamic attack," saying, "This is an attack based in hate. We should not give hate any license and we shouldn’t even give these folks and their manifestos attention.”

One of the alleged shooters appears to have live-streamed part of the attack on Facebook.

Booker told reporters that “these companies have a responsibility to keep hate off of their platforms and I look forward to doing everything I can to make sure to ensure they move more aggressively to do that.”

Booker arrived in the Granite State on Thursday night and headed directly to Manchester’s Puritan Backroom restaurant, a must-stop for White House hopefuls. On Friday, he drew some 300 people to an event in Lebanon and later around 100 to a house party in Claremont.

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Hours before Booker landed in New Hampshire, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas kicked off his presidential bid by campaigning in Iowa, the state that votes first in the caucus and primary calendar.

Asked about O’Rourke’s candidacy and the intense media coverage that accompanied the launch, Booker said he’s concentrating on his bid rather than worrying about his rivals. Booker explained he learned when he was running track in high school to “stay in your lane. Don’t look at the left or the right. Focus on the hurdles ahead of you. And for me, it’s all about connecting with voters.”

During his speech in Claremont, Booker did seem to take a jab at some of his rivals for the nomination, especially his fellow senators.

“I hope people look at my whole record. Not everybody in the race has had to run things and so you can actually see me running an organization as a chief executive,” he said, as he spotlighted his tenure as mayor of Newark.

Booker headed to Iowa Friday afternoon, after wrapping up his quick swing through New Hampshire.