Booker wins NJ Senate seat, says he's 'a scrapper'

Newark Mayor Cory Booker talks to supporters during an election night victory party after winning a special election for the U.S. Senate, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Newark, N.J. Booker and Republican Steve Lonegan faced off to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Frank Lautenberg. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker talks to supporters during an election night victory party after winning a special election for the U.S. Senate, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Newark, N.J. Booker and Republican Steve Lonegan faced off to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Frank Lautenberg. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker talks to supporters during an election night victory party after winning a special election for the U.S. Senate, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Newark, N.J. Booker and Republican Steve Lonegan faced off to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Frank Lautenberg. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, top left, hugs his mother Carolyn Booker after giving his victory speech during an election night party, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Newark, N.J. Booker and Republican Steve Lonegan faced off during a special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Frank Lautenberg. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Republican senate candidate Steve Lonegan and wife Lorraine Rossi Lonegan, wave during his concession speech in Bridgewater, N.J., Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, after Democrat Cory Booker was declared winner. Lonegan and Booker were vying to fill the Senate seat left vacant after the death of Frank Lautenberg. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey's U.S. senator-elect says he's ready to go to Washington and channel Americans' frustration with Congress into energy for change.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Thursday, hours after he defeated Republican Steve Lonegan in a special Senate election. Booker will fill the seat left vacant by the June death of Frank Lautenberg.

Booker says some of the comments people have made to him about the state of affairs in Washington mimic what people told him when he was elected Newark's mayor in 2006.

Booker called himself "a scrapper" and says he was still able to make positive changes in New Jersey's largest city. He says the current climate of frustration in Washington creates a climate for change.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-17-NJ%20Senate/id-d55fa2eee13e4917af0a49eda520e4cf
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