By David Madden

TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) - A longtime New Jersey state senator wants to trade Trenton for Washington and will take on a powerful Democrat incumbent to do it.

Republican Joe Kryillos has been in the legislature for 24 years, all but 4 representing Monmouth County in the state senate.

Last June, he went through the formalities of thinking about a run against Democrat incumbent Bob Menendez. Yesterday, he filed the papers to make the campaign official.

“These guys in Washington, they yell at each other, they kick the can down the road, they blame each other,” Kryillos said. “And they don’t get the job done.”

He is likely to face, at worst, token opposition in a party primary, but Menendez is a well-funded, politically savvy veteran. And another thing to consider: no Republican has been elected to a U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey since Clifford Case, more than 30 years ago.