BREAKING: Ridge Will Not Run For Senate In 2010
Tom Ridge will not be challenging Pat Toomey for the Republican Senate nomination in Pennsylvania in 2010. In a statement released today, the former governor and Homeland Security chief said, "[a]fter 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.
Ridge, a moderate of sorts, would drum Toomey if the primary were held today, according to one poll, and he's widely believed to be the Republicans' strongest potential candidate in the increasingly blue state.
That's mixed news for Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA). On the one hand, if he secures the Democratic nomination, he won't have to worry about defeating Ridge in the general election. And he'd likely be a very strong candidate against Toomey. But on the other hand, one of the key arguments for nominating Specter is his name recognition and strength in a general election. With Ridge out of the race, the risk to Democrats of a potential Joe Sestak candidacy are greatly diminished, and that may make Sestak yet more likely to run.
| TOPICS: Arlen Specter, Democrats, Joe Sestak, PA-SEN, Pat Toomey, Republicans, Senate, Senate '10, Tom Ridge
Josh
Matt
Eric
Good news for Democrats.
Bad news for Specter.
May 7, 2009 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Looks like the only contested primary will be on the Democratic side.
Go Sestak!
May 7, 2009 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Specter born 1930; Ridge born 1945; even Rendell born 1944.
Good grief! Find someone under 50, Pennsylvania! And this comes from someone who will soon be 60. Hand over power to the younger generation so they can get on with their future!
May 7, 2009 1:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well to be fail, Sestak in't that far behind the three of them (atleast Ridge and Rendell) as Sestak was born in 1951.
May 7, 2009 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not sure why you're singling out Pa. on the age issue--can you name many U.S. Senators under 50? I'd be surprised if there are even 10 of them, and one less since Obama left.
And even though Specter is old and long past his prime(if he ever had a prime) as a Senator, he's still far from the oldest ever.
At any rate, I'm all for Sestak running and will gladly vote for him in the primary. Whatever his age, he's on the right side of most issues, and will at least oppose a filibuster regardless of how he actually votes. That makes him 100% better than Specter already.
May 7, 2009 2:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Point taken. I'll broaden my point to include all of these old codgers in the Senate--don't let the door hit them on the way out. Find someone younger to run who has ideas more attuned to the 21st century and not the middle of the 20th century.
Find younger folks.....
May 7, 2009 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not a big surprise. Is there any reason to ever believe anything the GOP says?
May 7, 2009 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Guess he didn't believe those polls showing him beating Toomey any more than I did.
Hey Joe, come on in, the water's fine!
May 7, 2009 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Apparently there's a new Kos poll that shows him losing badly to Toomey--that seems more accurate considering the state of the GOP here.
May 7, 2009 2:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
The thing that's so hilarious about all this is that Toomey already got his "no confidence vote" just discussing Ridge jumping in the race! Now he gets to be the GNOP's "because there's no one else" candidate.
The polling showed Ridge trouncing Toomey, yes, but it also showed Ridge edging out Specter. BUT the polling also showed Specter edging out Toomey.
So the pecking order was Ridge-Specter-Toomey, and none of them will be our Dem general election candidate.
I guess Ridge couldn't pass up the lobbying megabucks, or move back to Pennsylvania after all.
PEACE
May 7, 2009 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
KOS adds that he's releasing a poll showing Ridge trailing Toomey!
May 7, 2009 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shorter Ridge: You idiots want Toomey? You got him. Don't come crying to me when he gets crushed by thirty points.
May 7, 2009 2:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Draft Sestak and donate here. Please share the link.
http://www.actblue.com/page/joe_sestak-2010
May 7, 2009 1:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
That lobbyist money is too good to pass up these days hmmm.
May 7, 2009 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
So what skeleton does he have in his closet? Unpaid taxes, infidelity... must be something.
May 7, 2009 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have to believe the polls showing Ridge crushing Toomey was a big stinking POS. (and I'm not just talking about the name of the firm that did the poll) I would have believed it if it had Ridge up by, say, 8-10 votes. But it had him beating Toomey by almost 40. I didn't look into the methodology because I didn't really believe the results but I'm wondering if they polled everybody and didn't just limit the response to Republicans. The PA primary is closed so even just including independents could have resulted in wacky results. (and I could see PA indies going for Ridge big time)
May 7, 2009 2:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
yeah, any poll that showed Ridge winning the Repub primary by more than 10 points has got to be garbage. I don't believe he would have won the primary in fact--Toomey would have jumped all over his non-resident status, closeness to McCain, pro-choice stance, lobbying for Albania, etc.
I simply don't believe any poll that shows Ridge winning a Repub primary in this state. The wingnuts are the only ones left in the GOP here, just like every other state.
May 7, 2009 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think his decision had anything to do with winning or losing. I think he didn't want to be just another irrelevant and impotent Republican Senator living in Washington, D.C. with limited earning potential. At 63, he simply has more personally and financially attractive options.
May 7, 2009 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. As everyone seems to have forgotten, he quit the Bush administration because he wasn't making enough money to put his kid through a pricey college.
May 7, 2009 6:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now all we need is for Sestak to get in this race, and for Obama to break his promise to Specter and stay on the sidelines.
We may yet be able to turn Pennsylvania (truly) blue.
May 7, 2009 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink