The AP
has the story:
SPRINGFIELD -- U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, one of the first Republicans to suggest a possible challenge to Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has decided not to enter the gubernatorial race.
The 59-year-old from Peoria, who announced his exploratory committee in January, said Wednesday he would focus on winning a seventh term in Washington instead.
"In the end, the vast majority of people in my own district told me ... that they really wanted me to stay where I am," he said. "I had very few people in my own district say they wanted me to run for governor."
I find it difficult to believe that LaHood's decision was influenced by the possibility that Jim Edgar may throw his hat in the ring, even though that's exactly what LaHood told Peoria radio station WMBD-AM yesterday. First because Edgar's health is sufficiently uncertain that even if he decides to run for governor again, voters may think twice about voting for him. But mostly because it seems more than a little strange. LaHood was the first Republican to announce he was thinking about mounting a challenge to Blagojevich. So why would he abandon that just on the off chance that another moderate Republican might be thinking about it?
I have to wonder if there aren't darker forces afoot here. Though LaHood's admission that he wasn't well known outside his own district might adequately explain his decision, too.
(Cross-posted from SoapBlox/Chicago.)