Harold Ford Decides Not to Run for Senate in New York

Harold Ford Jr., the former congressman from Tennessee, will not take on New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in this year's Democratic primary, several sources reported Monday.

"After giving it considerable thought and talking it over with his wife, he reached the conclusion that he would not be running, although he said he would like to remain active in the Democratic Party here," New York City Assemblyman Vito Lopez told the New York Post.

Since early January, Ford, 39, a Merrill Lynch executive, had been gauging support for a possible primary challenge to Gillibrand, who was appointed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's former Senate seat last year. But he concluded that the race would be ugly and could leave the winner vulnerable to a Republican challenger at a time when Democrats are holding a narrow majority.

Ford explained the reasons for his decision in an opinion article published Tuesday's issue of The New York Times.

In an excerpt published on the Times Web site on Monday night, Ford wrote, "I've examined this race in every possible way, and I keep returning to the same fundamental conclusion: If I run, the likely result would be a brutal and highly negative Democratic primary -- a primary where the winner emerges weakened and the Republican strengthened."

Ford moved to New York in 2006 after losing a bitter Senate fight in Tennessee, where he served as a congressman for 10 years. He has worked as a vice chairman of Merrill Lynch and for NBC as a political pundit.