Mayor Cory Booker attends the 'Finding Your Roots' New York premiere at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on March 19, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

On Monday, Newark, N.J. mayor Cory Booker’s political campaign committee, “Cory Booker for Senate,” submitted organizing papers to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for his potential 2014 run.

Booker announced via Twitter in late December his plans to explore running for Senate, rather than take on Chris Christie, the popular governor of New Jersey, later this year.

In 2014, Booker could potentially challenge incumbent N.J. senator Frank Lautenberg.

The 88-year-old senator has not yet announced whether he will seek another term.

“I want to give him the space to make his own decision. I’ve announced my intention to run, but the reality is is we’ve got a good senator,” Booker said during an appearance on CNN’s Starting Point.

“He’s been loyal. He’s been there for a long time. And I think he’s got a decision to make. So, I’m focusing on my job for now. And I hope to talk to him. We’ve reached out to him a number of times. In fact, I had a plane trip going down to meet with him, but unfortunately with a lot of the challenges going down in Washington, he had to cancel the meeting,” Booker added.

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals.