Booker makes late HQ2 bid

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) this week offered up Newark as the new home for Amazon’s second headquarters after the company pulled back from its plans to build offices in New York City.

Booker’s comments set him at odds with other 2020 presidential hopefuls, including progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), both of whom celebrated the cancellation as a win by grass-roots activists and local lawmakers.

“We want HQ2,” Booker said, referring to the Amazon offices by their nickname. “We’ve sent that message out already.”

The Democratic presidential candidate told Cheddar that while he “applauds” the local community in New York for raising issues specific to their neighborhood, Newark leaders have mobilized around bringing in Amazon.

When Amazon canceled the New York plans last week, a company spokesperson said that it would not be searching for a new site at this time. It still plans to build offices in Northern Virginia.

The politics: Amazon’s New York cancellation has provided another opportunity for Democratic presidential candidates to draw battle lines over where they stand on big tech corporations, a division that highlights the growing rift between business-friendly Democrats and the ascendant left wing.