Tom Byrne

Lautenberg rival U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1), meets a would-be Lautenberg rival-turned ally, Tom Byrne, in Princeton on Saturday.

Former Democratic State Chairman Tom Byrne will not challenge incumbent Frank Lautenberg for his U.S. Senate seat.

Byrne faxed a statement to the Marriot Hotel in Trenton announcing he would not run, where prominent Democratic politicians are holding a rally to demonstrate their solidarity behind Lautenberg. Current Democratic State Chairman Joe Cryan read Byrne's letter to the crowd.

Byrne had conducted polling last week about his chances in a Democratic primary against Lautenberg.

“The reasoning is that Frank is popular with Democrats and I respect that,” said Byrne, a financial consultant whose father, Brendan T. Byrne, served as Governor from 1974 to 1982.

Tom Byrne might challenge Frank Lautenberg in the Democratic primaryAs Sen. Frank Lautenberg gets ready to kick off his campaign with a show of Democratic support in Trenton, you can bet that potential Democratic challenger Tom Byrne will be paying attention.

Byrne said that he still hasn’t made a decision on whether he’s going to challenge Lautenberg for the Democratic nomination, but plans to shortly.

“I’m going to have a round of conversations this morning with some key people and see where that goes, but I think I’ll have a decision in 24 hours,” he said.

Byrne commissioned a poll that was conducted late last week, and spent the weekend pouring over the data. He doesn’t want to share the results just yet.

MORRISTOWN - Democratic Party leaders will stage a rally inMayor Donald Cresitello Trenton on Monday in support of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg as two potential primary challengers - Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello and former party Chairman Tom Byrne of Princeton - continued to lay the groundwork to run against the veteran lawmaker.

"We’re going to have the Democratic congressional delegation, Gov. Corzine, Sen. Menendez - all in support of Sen. Lautenberg," said Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan.

The event is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the Marriott.

The entry of Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello into the U.S. Senate primary could complicate former Democratic State Chairman Tom Byrne's decision making process on whether to challenge incumbent Frank Lautenberg.

Tom Byrne might challenge Frank Lautenberg in the Democratic primaryFormer Democratic State Chairman Tom Byrne confirmed today that he’s seriously mulling a primary bid against incumbent U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

Byrne, who works as a financial consultant and is the son of former Gov. Brendan Byrne (his full name is actually Brendan Thomas Byrne, Jr.), has already commissioned a poll on his prospects and expects to learn its results by Friday. He’ll make a decision on whether or not to run over the weekend.

“The big factor will be whether people think it’s time for a change,” said Byrne, who headed up the state Democratic party between 1994 and 1997.

In September, PolitickerNJ.com reported that Byrne wouldn’t rule out a primary challenge against Lautenberg.

Frank Lautenberg will be 84 when he seeks re-election to the U.S. Senate next year
While two recent independent polls show that a majority of New Jerseyans think Frank Lautenberg is too old to serve another full term in the U.S. Senate, so far there have been no Democrats willing to openly discuss a primary bid.

Add Tom Byrne to that list.