The 50-year-old Haddon Heights resident, who wants to satisfy a long-brewing ambition, has looked around the political landscape and seen a long wait for the best jobs in the state.

Gov. Corzine has said he would seek reelection in 2009. If he doesn't run, Senate President Richard J. Codey (D., Essex) is considered a front runner for the nomination.

The state's other U.S. senator, Robert Menendez, is 54 - young by Washington standards.

For years, Andrews has filled the role in New Jersey politics of the smart kid in class who never gets called on because he's stuck in the back of the room behind the big boys from North Jersey.

"What Rob's always had against him is that he's a South Jersey congressman when there wasn't much influence from South Jersey in the state," but that's changing, said state Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney, an Andrews supporter. "The edge is dulling and [being from South Jersey] is not as much of an issue as it used to be, and that's going to help Rob."

Andrews' fledgling candidacy has already shaken up the Democratic organization, with party chairmen, elected officials and other influential Democrats scrambling to take sides - or not.

The most significant events yesterday amounted to a draw for the candidates. Bergen County chairman Joseph Ferierro, who was wavering, decided to stay with Lautenberg. The AFL-CIO withdrew its endorsement of Lautenberg, saying it would be neutral.

Andrews has been frustrated every time he has tried to make moves for the big jobs.

In 1997, he ran in the Democratic primary for governor, losing by two points to Jim McGreevey. In 2002, when U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli dropped his reelection bid, then-Gov. McGreevey refused to give the nod to Andrews. In 2004, when McGreevey resigned under the cloud of federal investigations and a gay sex scandal, Corzine's entrance into the race knocked Andrews out. In 2005, when Corzine took the governor's office and had to resign from the U.S. Senate, he chose U.S. Rep. Robert Menendez as his successor.

In an interview yesterday, Andrews said he was running because in the last few days "dozens of Democrats and activists around the state were asking me to. . . . I frankly misread the situation and thought there was a contentment with our situation, and it became clear to me that there wasn't."

He stressed, though, that he was running because of his ambition to change the country.

"People are looking for challengers to challenge the status quo," he said. "I'm in public service because I want to make the country better."

There could be a big payoff to Andrews' gamble: If he wins the June 3 Democratic primary against Lautenberg, he has the odds on his side of winning the seat in a high-voter-turnout presidential year in a deep-blue state that hasn't put a Republican in the U.S. Senate since 1972.

The Republican primary has a full field that includes State Sen. Joe Pennacchio, a dentist from Morris County; Ramapo College professor Murray Sabrin; and Andy Unanue, a member of the family that founded Goya Foods.

For many of his 18 years in Congress, Andrews has been shoved to the back bench by the Republican majority. He chairs the subcommittee on health, employment, labor and pensions, but because of the House's seniority rules he doesn't have much of a shot at a chairmanship of a major committee for years to come.

The son of a ship worker, Andrews grew up in Bellmawr and got a bachelor's degree from Bucknell University and a law degree from Cornell University. His first elected office, in 1987, was a seat on the Camden County freeholder board as Democrats were beginning their takeover of the county and the southern half of the state.

He took the safe congressional seat in 1990 and is now willing to give it up, setting off a scramble to replace him.

Leading contenders to replace Andrews on the Democratic ticket for Congress include Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D., Gloucester), who said he was "sincerely interested," and Assemblyman Louis Greenwald, who did not return a call for comment yesterday.

Sweeney, who said he once would have given up an arm to be a congressman, said yesterday he was no longer interested because he just won a top leadership job in the state Senate.

Robert E. Andrews

Age: 50. Born Aug. 4, 1957, in Camden. Now lives in Haddon Heights.

Family: Wife, Camille; two daughters.

Education: Cornell Law School (1982); Bucknell University (1979).

Political affiliation: Democrat.

Political career: U.S. representative, First District, since 1990. Elected to Camden freeholder board in 1986 and 1989. Unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 1997. Is now challenging Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

Quote: "This is a David vs. Goliath situation. All the Goliaths don't want this David to run, but he's going to. I think the public's looking for some Davids to step up and run against the Goliaths."

- Associated Press