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Friday, Nov 30, 2012 5:00 PM UTC

Erick Erickson will not run for Senate after all

The conservative pundit says he won't make a bid for Saxby Chambliss' seat

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Topics: Erick Erickson, Herman Cain, Saxby Chambliss, 2014 elections, Georgia,

Erick Erickson will not run for Senate after all (Credit: Wikipedia)

CNN contributor and RedState blogger Erick Erickson thought a lot about it, and decided not to challenge Saxby Chambliss in 2014.

“Were I to run for the Senate, it would be a terribly nasty campaign,” Erickson wrote on RedState. “I’m not putting my family through that when the best outcome would mean a sizable pay cut in pay and being away from my kids and wife all the time huddled in a pit of vipers often surrounded by too many who viewed me as a useful instrument to their own advancement.”

Chambliss has of late been targeted by conservatives because he recently backed away from his support for Grover Norquist’s tax pledge. Herman Cain has also been floated as a potential Chambliss challenger, though he told the Daily Caller that it’s not likely: “My attention will be on exposing the economic pain and suffering to come from a second Obama term, [rather] than on a decision Senator Chambliss made,” Cain said. “No, I’m not running!”

Erickson, for his part, insisted that his brief consideration of a run was not “just some effort of self promotion,” but a response to “the efforts of several and the financial pledges of support.”

 

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

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