State Treasurer Brian Krolicki made it official Tuesday - he won't take on Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., this year.
"For several months now, I have seriously pursued the prospect of running for the U.S. Senate, and the results of this concerted effort have far exceeded our expectations," he said.
Krolicki said he believes he could wage an effective campaign against Reid, who is seeking a third term in the Senate.
But while he won't run this year, Krolicki made it clear he has ambitions beyond the treasurer's office.
He said he will offer those who contributed a total of $135,000 to his exploratory campaign their money back but that the cash may be put to use in another race - possibly for Congress.
"There is a great likelihood, certainly a possibility, that should Jim Gibbons run for governor in 2006, that I would look at his congressional seat - very hard," he said.
He said if Gibbons decides to stay in Congress, he might look at the governor's office himself.
"The congressional seat is very appealing to me but if Jim stays put, then I believe we would be looking at the governor's race or, for family reasons, the lieutenant governor's race," he said.
While he said there were a lot of factors involved in his decision, Krolicki admitted the projections Reid will raise up to $10 million for his campaign certainly weren't encouraging. Reid has also won widespread support including from normally Republican groups in business and industry.
"We never thought this was a dollar for dollar campaign," Krolicki said. "But how much money we have is certainly part of our decision."
In the meantime, he said, he intends to complete some projects he has been working on as treasurer - including several involving changes he and other state treasurers want in the operation of the stock market. Krolicki is head of the state treasurers association and has two years left in his term as Nevada treasurer.
Contact Geoff Dornan at nevadaappeal@sbcglobal.net or 687-8750.