“To Run or Not to Run…that is the question”…to adapt the great Shakespearian line to the question Newark Mayor Cory Booker ponders each and every day in the press.

To run, or not to run….for Governor in 2013 against Chris Christie, as I’m sure national Democrats are hoping, or for the Senate seat now occupied by Senator Frank Lautenberg, which he shows no signs of giving up anytime soon.

On yesterday’s edition of 'Face the Nation', Booker said he's still considering run against Christie.

"I am absolutely considering running for governor as well as giving other options consideration," Booker told "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer on CBS. When asked if the Senate seat was one of them, Booker said "I'm actually looking at that as well."

Booker's decision will set off a chain reaction among his fellow Democrats. The 43-year-old mayor will decide within the next ten days he said.
"There's a lot of very good candidates for governor on the Democratic side," Booker said.

Well since that, one of those candidates has decided that now’s not the time to run.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski of Middlesex County, chairman of the state Democratic Committee who had been among several top-drawer Democrats seen as potential challengers to Gov. Chris Christie next year, said today he will not run for governor next year.

In a statement, the 50-year-old Wisniewski, who represents Middlesex County, said it was not the "right time" to run for full-time public office.
Wisniewski said obligations to his family and his law practice — he is principal partner of a Sayreville law firm — took precedence.

"It became clear to me that I wouldn’t be able to devote the time to essentially what becomes a full-time job as a candidate and ultimately as governor," he said in a phone interview.

Should the mayor of the state’s largest city decide to run, he would likely clear the field.

And by extension, you’d also have to imagine that if he decided to run for Senate, there’d probably be an intraparty squabble with the current seat holder...who will turn 90 by the time the seat is up in 2014.

But it does make for an interesting soap opera, as polls suggest right now that Booker would lose by double digits to Governor Christie, but if he wanted the Senate Seat, he’s pretty much assured of it.


What say you? For what do you feel Newark Mayor Cory Booker should run?

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM