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BREAKING NEWS: Ridge won’t run for Senate

BREAKING NEWS: Ridge won’t run for Senate

After much speculation, former Gov. Tom Ridge today announced that he would not seek the GOP nomination for Senate next year.

In a statement, Ridge said he had been heartened by the support and encouragement he received from within the party and that it had been a difficult decision for him. He expressed a desire to still be involved in the party’s development.

“To those who believe that the Republican Party is facing challenges, they are right,” Ridge said. “To those who believe the Democratic Party is without its own difficulties, they are wrong. No one party has a monopoly on all of the answers. The more important view, in my mind, is that we remember, whether Republican or Democrat, we are foremost Americans. And as Americans, we have always overcome challenges when we put partisanship aside and solutions first.”

Ridge’s decision leaves Republicans Pat Toomey and Peg Luksik as the main candidates in the race. But it also would seem to increase the likelihood that Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-7) and other Republican lawmakers will give the race a serious look.

See Ridge’s full statement below:

WASHINGTON, May 7—Tom Ridge, the first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and former Governor of Pennsylvania, issued the following statement today on his decision not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate in his home state of Pennsylvania.

“After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party, I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate.

“I am enormously grateful for the confidence my party expressed in me, the encouragement and kindness of my fellow citizens in Pennsylvania and the valuable counsel I received from so many of my party colleagues. The 2010 race has significant implications for my party, and that required thoughtful reflection. All of the above made my decision a difficult and deeply personal conclusion to reach. However, this process also impressed upon me how fortunate I am to have so many friends who volunteered to support my journey if I chose to take it and continue to offer their support after I conveyed to them this morning how I believe I can best serve my commonwealth, my party and my country.

“Public service has long played a significant role in my life. That service does not end here. There are causes to which I remain intensely committed, including my work on behalf of the disability community, our nation’s veterans, our national security and the GOP — the party I enthusiastically joined more than four decades ago.

“To those who believe that the Republican Party is facing challenges, they are right. To those who believe the Democratic Party is without its own difficulties, they are wrong. No one party has a monopoly on all of the answers. The more important view, in my mind, is that we remember, whether Republican or Democrat, we are foremost Americans. And as Americans, we have always overcome challenges when we put partisanship aside and solutions first.

“And so my desire and intention is to help my party craft solutions that both sides of the aisle can embrace. My hope is to raise the level of civility in public debate and raise the bar on outcomes that serve our citizens fully, fairly and equally. My belief is that those in my home state can best be served by the principles of limited government, less taxes, competent governance and shared responsibility. So I stand ready and excited to help my party and my country prevail as we continue to work to preserve and protect our strong, storied and much beloved nation.”

May 7, 2009 at 12:37 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

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  1. shizzy

    May 7th, 2009

    WOW! BIG NEWS!!!! This changes the whole face of the game right now. He was shown as very competitive against Specter, who is slowly making Dems. angry. This throws a real curve ball. Hopefully Specter can get his story straight soon and he can be viewed as a real favorite.

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  4. Brian Kline

    May 7th, 2009

    The Republicans just lost their best opportunity to bring moderates back into the Party and stop their losing streak. This opens a door for Gerlach, but I don’t think he has the money or message to beat Specter, or even Toomey in the primary.

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  6. Ideological Purity « The Forum

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    [...] run against Pat Toomey for the Republican nomination for Senate (via).  This little excerpt from the official statement stood out: He expressed a desire to still be involved in the party’s [...]

  7. Anonymous

    May 7th, 2009

    We don’t want him or any stinking moderates. It is a time for strong Christian males to assert their dominance.

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  12. Ridge Out, Who's In??

    May 7th, 2009

    Nice Get Mr. Hirschorn. Now the question lies with Gerlach. Is he in or out? Does Pileggi, Scarnati or a coalition candidate like Joe Watkins step into the breach now? The field is open. But the players have to field a real team of staff and finance folks to play the ball game efficiently against Toomey. The party has to find new blood fast.

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  14. Stella

    May 7th, 2009

    Mr. Ridge is a class act. The Republicans and Democrats that we elected should listen to him about working together, compromising for the people they work for. I think they all forgot they are supposed to be trying to make our lives a little easier. All this fighting, where is the meet in the middle? Isn’t that why we have two parties – each side has their wants and they come together and each side gets something.

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  17. Drew

    May 7th, 2009

    All this talk about moderates is nonsense. Moderates do not exist. If Republicans play Democrat-lite, people are just going to vote for the real Democrat. Why would anyone think anything differently?

    The Democrats play the same old song, tax and spend and they always do more of it than Republicans ever would.

  19. David Diano

    May 7th, 2009

    Drew-
    Democrats make the same complaint we run conservative Democrats claiming it’s like running a Republican.

    The problem (actually one of many) with the Republicans is that the extreme right-wing controls the party, like a tail wagging a dog. Moderates that would wind up representing a larger cross-section of the citizenry are locked out by social or religious or fiscal right extremists.

    I think Ridge would have lost a general election anyway because the pro-lifers would have sat it out in protest over pro-choice Ridge being picked.

  20. Jason

    May 7th, 2009

    Huge shocker!

    Would the primary have been too brutal and expensive?

    Or did he just have bette things to do? I’m really surprised by this move, or maybe I thought more into it than Mr. Ridge did.

  21. True American

    May 10th, 2009

    Living in state all my life I would have to say that Tom Ridge was only okay for PA and he was so bad for homeland security that is part of the reason he just can’t run. I never did figure out who really liked him. It wasn’t the republicans as he was too Democratic in his views and it was not the Democrats as he was far too republican. He really has no base nor anywhere to go. He made a big mess of homeland security but we all knew colors.

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    [...] run for the U.S. Senate in 2010. The blog PA2010.com reports that Ridge issued a statement saying he will not run. “After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership [...]

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