By CNN Political Unit
(CNN) — Senator-elect Cory Booker will move forward with his support of same-sex marriage even before he is sworn in, with plans to grant the marriages of several same-sex couples 12:01 a.m. Monday after a court ruling goes into effect.
The story was first reported by Buzzfeed. The New Jersey Democrat, who’s the mayor of Newark, re-tweeted that article to his celebrity-sized Twitter crowd of 1.4 million followers.
According to Buzzfeed, Booker will recognize the weddings of at least 10 same-sex couples at Newark City Hall.
The weddings will come after a New Jersey judge ruled last month that the already legal civil unions in the state didn’t go far enough because they prevented couples from getting federal benefits. In her ruling, the judge cited the June Supreme Court decision that overturned a key part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s administration has filed an appeal, but barring higher court action, the ruling will go into effect Monday, hence the timing of the weddings Booker plans to grant.
Booker’s political celebrity and high-profile fundraising helped the two-term mayor sail to a decisive victory in the special election this week to fill the rest of the term of Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died in June.
–CNN’s Bryan Koenig and Kevin Conlon contributed to this report.
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