MARLTON - Sen. Frank Lautenberg figures to have the edge with seniors in his Democratic primary fight with U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews.

But maybe not today in Burlington where the 84-year old incumbent passed on an old commitment to campaign at a retired persons’ complex with state Sen. John Adler, who’s running for U.S. Congress in the 3rd Congressional District.

That’s because Andrews was in attendance, and he was campaigning too.

"The event was scheduled a long time before this broke," said Lautenberg spokesman Brendan Gill, referring to Andrews’s declaration last week to challenge the senator.

"It was a strategic decision," Gill added of Lautenberg’s pull-out from the senior citizens’ town hall meeting with a congressional candidate - Adler - who backs Andrews over Lautenberg.

Like Adler, the 51-year old Andrews's homebase is Camden, while Lautenberg hails from Passaic-Bergen.

Andrews described today’s question and answer session as containing precisely the kind of vitality Democratic primary voters desire.

"Frank Lautenberg originally committed to attend, but he changed his mind," he said. "I went, and it was great."