Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey visited Comic-Con on Friday to “geek out” at the annual pop-culture convention. Later, he was scheduled to attend a private fundraiser in San Diego.
The Democratic presidential candidate was making a stop at the convention with “no plans,” according to Huffington Post reporter Amanda Terkel, who first reported Booker’s intention on Twitter. Sabrina Singh, Booker’s national press secretary, later confirmed Booker’s plans.
“Cory Booker is going to Comic-Con today around 3:15. No plans — just going to walk around and ‘geek out,’” Terkel wrote in a Twitter post.
Later Friday night, he was scheduled to attend a fundraiser at the home of Laurie Black, the former Port Commission member and chief of staff to Rep. Lynn Schenk, who also was set to attend along with 2018 county supervisor candidate Omar Passons and sheriff’s candidate Dave Myers.
Booker is a well-documented fan of so-called “nerd culture” and “Star Trek” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Booker frequently refers to himself as a nerd or a geek despite being a football player at Stanford University.
“I am a geek nerd who happened to have a temporary period of jockiness,” Booker said in a 2013 interview with the Washington Post.
.@CoryBooker heads to @Comic_Con today and will be geeking out. He will see ya there! #SDCC pic.twitter.com/oRcHpiXVct
— Sabrina Singh (@sabrinasingh24) July 19, 2019
Booker has previously visited conventions under the Comic-Con umbrella, namely Atlantic City Comic-Con in 2015. While there, he took a photo with actor William Shatner.
The annual five-day convention brings in more than $147 million in economic activity to San Diego County. An estimated 130,000 people are expected to attend the festival this year.
— City News Service contributed to this report.