Ridge Won't Challenge Specter for Seat

Former Pennsylvania governor and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will not seek the Republican nomination for senator from that state, the Hill reports. Party leaders had urged him to run against newly minted Democrat Arlen Specter. Ridge was in a good position to run, polling just 3 points behind Specter. “After careful consideration,” he said, “I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination.”

Ridge’s announcement included a philosophical aside. “To those who believe that the Republican Party is facing challenges, they are right,” he said. “To those who believe the Democratic Party is without its own difficulties, they are wrong. No one party has a monopoly on all of the answers.” (More Tom Ridge stories.)