Ridge Says He Won't Run for Pa. Senate Seat
May 7, 2009, 2:11 pm — Updated: 5:03 pm -->
By Bernie Becker

Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor, has decided not to run for the Senate next year.
He released a statement on Thursday effectively shooting down talk that had been mounting ever since Senator Arlen Specter switched from Republican to Democrat a little more than a week ago.
Mr. Ridge, a moderate Republican who served as Pennsylvania’s governor from 1995 to 2001, also was among the possible candidates floated as a possible running mate last year for Senator John McCain, the party’s presidential nominee.
“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,” Mr. Ridge said in a statement. “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.”
Some leading Republicans seemed keen for Mr. Ridge to jump into the fray, given the difficult climb to election faced by conservative Pat Toomey, a former congressman, in a state whose voters went overwhelmingly for Barack Obama last year.
And current polling shows the race between Mr. Ridge and Mr. Specter might have gone down to the wire. A Quinnipiac poll released earlier this week showed Mr. Specter with a slim three percentage point lead over Mr. Ridge, who also was elected to six terms in the House and was secretary for Homeland Security under former President George W. Bush.
That same poll gave Mr. Specter, who is seeking his sixth term in the Senate, a 20 percentage point lead over Mr. Toomey, former president of the Club for Growth, an anti-tax group. Mr. Specter left the Republicans in part because he did not believe he could beat Mr. Toomey for the party’s nomination next year, especially after many of the state’s more moderate Republican voters switched parties in the last election.
Even with Mr. Ridge’s name off the ballot, the race in Pennsylvania still could be plenty exciting in 2010.
Representative Jim Gerlach, a moderate Republican who has eked out victories the last four elections, is said to be considering the race, while conservative activist Peg Luksik has already announced she will seek the Republican nomination.
Representative Joe Sestak, a Democrat first elected to the House in 2006, is reportedly also considering a Senate bid and would challenge Mr. Specter in a Democratic primary. Meanwhile, Joe Torsella, a former deputy mayor of Philadelphia, announced he was running for the Democratic nomination before Mr. Specter’s switch and has released a statement saying he would remain in the race.