Hollywood, Politics and Love: The Cory Booker & Rosario Dawson Story

Cory Booker and Rosario Dawson’s love story sounds like something straight from the movies. He’s the hunky politician, she’s the beautiful actress. Cory met Rosario — known for her roles in Sin City and Jane the Virgin — in 2018, and they are showing no signs of slowing down!

“I am just grateful to be with someone that I respect and love and admire so much who is so brilliant and kind and caring and loving,” she gushed.

MORE: CORY BOOKER & ROSARIO DAWSON SHARE SWEET PDA BEFORE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Rosario stood by his side while he was campaigning for the presidential nomination and remained by his side when he announced he was ending his bid to be president. If he would have been elected, he would have been only the second bachelor-president of the United States. Although, from the sounds of it, he might not be a bachelor for long! 

"I'm very, very blessed to be with someone that makes me a better person," he said.

MORE: ROSARIO DAWSON CONFIRMS SHE’S DATING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE CORY BOOKER

From their first meeting at a fundraiser when she was unavailable (she was dating an actor) to that fateful night when he finally got the courage to ask for her number, check out the sweet and  romantic timeline of Cory Booker and Rosario Dawson.

Cory told a crowd in Orangeburg, South Carolina that he first met Rosario at a fundraiser for Ben Jealous in 2017.

“She didn’t give me the time of day,” he admitted.

There is no doubt that Cory probably caught her eye, but Rosario was in a relationship at the time with actor Eric Andre. 

The timing just wasn’t right. 

After dating for more than a year, Rosario and Eric Andre announced they were splitting up. They didn’t reveal the cause of the breakup. Apparently that relationship had just ran its course.

The door opened up for Cory to make his move. 

He didn’t make his move on Rosario very quickly. In 2018, he reportedly had a private relationship with Chanda Gibson, executive director of the Council of Urban Professionals.

“He’s been dating her on and off for years . . . No one could understand why he told her their relationship is secret,” a source revealed.

Even though he had been linked in the past with several women — including Gayle King — he also dealt with rumors that he was gay.

“People who think I’m gay, some part of me thinks it’s wonderful. Because I want to challenge people on their homophobia . . . I say, ‘So what does it ­matter if I am?’ ” Page Six reported.

During that same speech in South Carolina, Cory told the crowd about the moment he got up the nerve to ask for Rosario’s number. They happened to be at the same rooftop party in October of 2018.

“So we met again, and I had one of those really awkward experiences. I’m a United States senator, and I had to get up the courage to walk up to her and ask her for her phone number,” he told the crowd. “And this doesn’t make me nervous, but that made me nervous.”

“She gave me the phone number,” he said.

The couple was spotted at the movies together in January of 2019, on what many said looked to be like a first date. 

“He literally almost ran me over when he was racing around the corner to get to the concession stand before the movie started,” a source told Page Six.

Their first date must have gone well! Just a few days later, Rosario and Cory were spotted together at the Broadway play Dear Evan Hanson.

They weren’t shy about being together either, as they mingled and took pictures with castmates after the show. 

Cory announced he is running for president in February of 2019. Rosario had supported Bernie Sanders in the past, leaving many fans to wonder if she would throw her support behind her boyfriend.

Cory made an appearance on The Breakfast Club in February of 2019. Host Charlamagne tha God grilled Cory on his love life.

“You don't want to marry somebody now. Once you start getting hot, you might become president? She might just want you for that," Charlamagne said.

"No, before I declared president, I'm dating somebody really special," Cory said, referring to the fact that they got together before he announced his presidential bid.

"Oh! So Cory Booker got a boo?" Charlamagne asked.

"I got a boo," Cory confirmed.

Cory wasn’t the only one in the hot seat — Rosario was also grilled about her relationship during an interview with Business Insider. Prior to Cory officially announcing his presidential bid, she was asked if she thought he should run for President. 

“I don't know ... um ... how to respond to that laughs. I do,” adding, “I hope that we get an opportunity to have people like him in that conversation because he brings a lot of grace, and intelligence, and experience, and I think we need that to be what's reflected in these debates and in these spaces that have so often been dominated by hateful rhetoric, and debasing each other.”

During a CNN Town Hall in March of 2019, moderator Don Lemon asked Cory about his girlfriend Rosario.

“I am worried about where this is going. Is this CNN or TMZ?" Cory joked before replying.

“I have an incredible girlfriend. She's just simply amazing, and I am hopeful, as is my mother,” Cory said, laughing. "I’m very lucky to be in a relationship with someone who is just so incredibly special, but more importantly has taught me so much in a very short period of time.”

Cory appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and he held nothing back when it came to his feelings for Rosario, including how she has helped him become more vulnerable in his relationships.

"She is a deeply soulful person and has taught me a lot of lessons about love already,"he said. "And sometimes you show the greatest strength when you make yourself vulnerable, and she has this nurturing spirit that's made me more courageous, not just in the love that I project and want to see in our country, but I think even in our personal relationships, to love more fearlessly. I'm very, very blessed to be with someone that makes me a better person."

Rosario and Cory made their relationship “Instagram Official” in March of 2019 when she posted a short video of the two together as they giggled over the release of the move, Avengers: Endgame. 

She later went on Extra gushing over how romantic he is. “I call him Cab, but Cory sends me a song every day we’re not together, and it’s just stuff like that where I’m sort of like, ‘He is so romantic and beautiful.”

Cory and Rosario poked fun at the tabloids that speculated that the couple had broken up after she missed a couple of his campaign events. She posted a text Cory had sent her on her Instagram page, which was a picture of a headline commenting on her noticeable absences.

“You made it,” Cory joked.

“I made it! To all the working mothers out there. Keep shining!” she captioned the photo.

In January of 2020, Cory announced via twitter that he was suspending his presidential campaign.

“It’s with a full heart that I share this news — I’m suspending my campaign for president,” he tweeted in part.

Rosario proved she is standing by her man, writing, “Cory, you continue to inspire me everyday. On this journey you and your remarkable team have represented the best in us and I know you will continue to. Thank you. I see you. I love you.”

His response? “I love you honey, so much.”

We have a feeling these two are in it for the long haul!