Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) said Monday that New Jersey voters should be focused on supporting their current senators in upcoming budget fights, and not on his possible Senate bid.
"The focus right now, frankly, for all of New Jersey, should be our two senators, supporting them in fiscal-cliff negotiations, Sandy relief, debt ceiling — we should be supporting [Sen.] Frank Lautenberg [D], supporting [Sen.] Bob Menendez [D]," Booker said Monday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "And me, I have a big job to do here in Newark."
Booker is in what he calls the "preliminary stages" of a run for the U.S. Senate. The rising Democratic star last week formally filed papers with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), but has not announced his candidacy yet and said he is still mulling the decision.
He could end up challenging the five-term Sen. Lautenberg in a 2014 primary if the incumbent seeks reelection. Lautenberg, who turns 89 this month, has not announced whether he will run for another term, and his office last week denied a report that he was considering retirement.
Booker on Sunday said he was "not ruling out" anything as he weighed a bid, including a primary fight against Lautenberg.
Last week, after Booker filed his papers with the FEC, his political director Mark Matzen
told The Hill that the mayor remained focused on "completing his vision for a revitalized Newark — more than a billion dollars in economic development this year alone, reforming education for our kids, building housing and parks and continuing to make progress in reducing crime and violence in the city."
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