Senator Bill Nelson said unequivocally Friday that he is not running for Florida governor in 2014.
Nelson was adamant when asked by msnbc’s Jansing & Co host Chris Jansing whether or not he plans to get into the gubernatorial race.
“No, m’am, I have no intention. I’ve got my hands full as Senator,” Nelson said.
Nelson’s statement follows a Roll Call report this week that quoted a “senior Democratic official” who said that the senator was considering challenging Republican Gov. Rick Scott.
“It’s on the way to being fairly serious. I think he is going to take a very close look at it,” a senior Florida Democratic official told CQ Roll Call. “It’s not very far along. I wouldn’t tell you it’s likely… [but] I think he will really look at it.” Nelson is not up for re-election in the Senate until 2018. “Look, I have no plans to run for governor,” Nelson added. “I have no intention of running for governor. I love this job of senator except that I am very, very frustrated as we have discussed this morning, that we can’t get anything done because you can’t get people together to build consensus.” NBC’s First Read reports that six Senate Democrats have announced they won’t seek re-election (thus far)–Sens. Max Baucus of Montana, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Carl Levin of Michigan, and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. Two Republicans have also said they will retire: Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Mike Johanns of Nebraska.
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