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Newark Mayor Cory Booker is calling Democratic party leaders to tell them he will not challenge Gov. Chris Christie in next year's gubernatorial race and will explore a run for U.S. Senate in 2014, The Star-Ledger has learned.

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

NEWARK — Newark Mayor Cory Booker is calling Democratic party leaders this morning to tell them he will not challenge Gov. Chris Christie in next year's gubernatorial race but will run for U.S. Senate in 2014.

“I’m not going to soft pedal this. It is my intention to run for U.S. Senate," Booker said in an interview. "But it’s premature. I’m not launching a campaign today. I have some work to do on that.”

The mayor spent the morning calling the likes of George Norcross, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) to inform them of his decision. He made his decision within the past week after months of deliberation.

The mayor called "about 10" party heavyweights.

Booker, long considered the Democrats' best hope to beat Christie in 2013, could now face U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in a 2014 Democratic primary, although it is unclear what Lautenberg plans to do.

The decision by Booker essentially reshapes the field of Democrats who will now take a shot at the popular Republican governor. Christie's post-Sandy polling numbers are virtually unmatched in a state with roughly 700,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans.

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ABOUT CORY BOOKER

Age: 43

Occupation: Newark mayor

Hometown: Harrington Park, N.J.

Education: Stanford University; Oxford University; Yale Law School

Public office: First elected to Newark City Council in 1998; lost race for Newark mayor to Sharpe James in 2002; elected mayor of Newark in 2006; re-elected mayor of Newark in 2010

Booker told Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran he was seriously mulling a run against Christie but said he wanted to finish his term as mayor.

“I was very invested in the idea to run for governor," Booker said, adding that two things changed his mind.

"One is the reality that if I was running for governor, I’d have to stop being full time mayor today. I would be drawn into a very long, tough campaign we believe we could win, but the reality is my time as mayor would be truncated.”

Booker also said the recent massacre in Newtown, Conn. helped shape his thinking

The governor can’t stop weapons from coming in," he said. "There’s levereage you have at the federal level you do not have at state level.”

And finally, Booker might have had a little nudge from the White House.

“I definitely talked to people at White House, but I won’t comment on their thoughts.” He said. “I would be betraying a confidence.”

So far, State Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) was the first to throw her hat in the gubernatorial ring. State Sen. Richard Codey has come close to declaring but still has not stepped in. Senate president Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th Dist.) are all considered potential challengers who may now enter the race, with Booker bowing out.

Christie led Booker 50 percent to 36 percent among New Jersey voters, a Public Policy Polling survey released earlier this month showed. Other Democrats weighing a bid for governor trail Christie by more than 20 points each.

Lautenberg, 88, has served five terms in the Senate with a brief retirement between his third and fourth terms. If he runs and is re-elected in 2014 he will be 90 years old at the start of a six-year term.

That has some Democrats worried. If Christie is re-elected he would be in a position to appoint a senator if anything happens to Lautenberg in office. At this point Lautenberg's intentions are unclear.

Mayor Cory Booker's days in Newark 50 Gallery: Mayor Cory Booker's days in Newark

Despite his age, the war veteran and self-made millionaire has a lot of fight. At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, Lautenberg chided his fellow party members for not putting up a bigger fight against Christie during the governor's first term.

"If more Democrats in our state stood up to Chris Christie, more people would be working today," he said in a none-too-veiled swipe at Senate President Stephen Sweeney and others who have supported the governor on some of his signature issues.

When asked about the comments afterwards, Lautenberg said his hardscrabble upbringing in Paterson and Belleville taught him to be a fighter.

Bemoaning what he sees as a "subdued" state party, he said "I'm willing to pick up the bat, but I can't also throw the ball and catch it."

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