Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who had been courted by Republicans to run for the Senate against appointed Democratic incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, has announced that he will not run.
King had previously announced in August 2009 that he wouldn’t run, but a week ago he left the door open again to a possible run. However, King has now withdrawn his name from consideration again, citing the importance of his work on the House Homeland Security Committee.
In his statement, King said: “While the political situation has changed dramatically in the Republicans’ favor since September and I believe that Sen. Gillibrand can and will be defeated in 2010, I will not be a candidate for the Senate.” While King might say Gillibrand will be defeated, his own withdrawal has the GOP running out of big names for this race, especially since Rudy Giuliani has also decided not to run.
