Popular Colorado governor and neo-con golden boy Bill Owens will announce today that he will not be seeking the senate seat recently vacated by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, and will cite "family reasons" according to the Denver Post.
Owens and his wife have been separated for some time, and rumors of infidelity have abounded. Owens was the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination.
In my opinion Owens had two reasons for doing this:
1) Owens has run as a pro-family candidate and is very cosy with the Colorado Springs religious right establishment. However, the more intense light that a campaign for senate would shed on his family life would be damaging to say the least.
2) Owens wants to run for president in 2008 when he hopes that his marital troubles will be cleared up, and would rather be a governor (or popular former governor) than a senator when he makes his announcement.
The decision also makes this an easier seat for Democrats to pick up.