Rep. Pete King put an end to his brief flirt with running for Senate against Kirsten Gillibrand this morning after Rudy Giuliani ended his own brief flirt with it.
“While the political situation has changed dramatically in the Republicans’ favor since September and I believe that Sen. Gillibrand can and will be defeated in 2010, I will not be a candidate for the Senate,” King said in a statement.
King, who’d been thinking of taking on Caroline Kennedy when she was favored to get appointed to the post, had nixed a run, but thought about it again after Giuliani – as was widely expected – took a pass.
Since the victory would be brief – it’s technically a special election to finish Hillary Rodham Clinton’s six-year term – it also helps him avoid a quick turnaround and a murkier political landscape.