Martin: "I'm out"
State Rep. Grier Martin just phoned to say he will NOT challenge U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole next year.
"I just could not find a way to make service in the Senate work for my family," Martin said. Senators spend weekdays in D.C. and weekends on the road meeting with constituents.
"I left for Afghanistan when my daughter was six days old and I'm still making up for lost time there," he said.
For those keeping score at home, Sen. Kay Hagan has also said 'no' to a potential run. Others to look at, and then turn down, their chance to take on Dole include Congressman Brad Miller and Gov. Mike Easley.
So far, Chapel Hill businessman Jim Neal is the only candidate to jump into the race. He is a political first-timer and a lot of Democrats I know say they don't know enough about him to say whether he'd made a good candidate.
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