Mayor Cory Booker wins Twitter Award

New York (CNN) - Newark Mayor Cory Booker took home Twitter "Gold" Wednesday, winning a "Shorty Award" for having the best microblog in the government category.

Booker is an avid user of Twitter, the social networking microblog that allows people to have conversations, send messages and post random thoughts in 140 character spurts. The Shorty Awards, hosted this year by CNN's Rick Sanchez, singles out people who effectively use this medium to communicate.

Booker was recognized for his @CoryBooker account. Runners up included NASA, Virginia State Parks, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines and Israel Los Angeles.

Each winner's acceptance speech had to be within 140 characters and Booker read his remarks from his phone.

"Newark is rising thanx 2 the power of people working together," he said. "Thank u Twitterverse & Tech Corps 4 unifying people 4 inspiration & justice."