N.J. senator takes digs at Booker’s interest in seat

The nation’s oldest sitting U.S. senator is not revealing his own political plans but is taking digs at the fellow Democrat who has stated he wants the seat.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg says Newark Mayor Cory Booker is entitled to run next year. But he warned Tuesday in Washington that Booker likely wouldn’t be the only candidate “drooling” over the job.

Lautenberg’s comments came in interviews with The Philadelphia Inquirer and Gannett. According to Gannett, when the 88-year-old senator was asked if there was a chance he wouldn’t run in 2014, Lautenberg said, “I don’t see that. But who knows?”

When Lautenberg was asked about whether Booker was being disrespectful, the Inquirer says the senator talked about how he would give his children a spanking when they were disrespectful and “everything was OK.”

Booker’s office did not immediately respond to an Associated Press email seeking comment.