 Contemplating advocacy work and a run for city council in Newark after graduation from law school , Booker lived in the city during his final year at Yale . After graduation , he served as staff attorney for the Urban Justice Center in New York and program coordinator of the Newark Youth Project . In 1998 , Booker won an upset victory for a seat on the Newark City Council , defeating four @-@ term incumbent George Branch . To draw attention to the problems of open @-@ air drug dealing and associated violence , he went on a 10 @-@ day hunger strike and lived in a tent and later in a motor home near drug @-@ dealing areas of the city . Booker proposed council initiatives that impacted housing , young people , law and order , and the efficiency and transparency of city hall , but was regularly outvoted by all of his fellow councilors . 
