Gilbert Baker: I Am Not Running For House

Gilbert Baker: I Am Not Running For House

By John McArdle | January 26, 2010 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As rumors continue to fly about whether he might drop his Senate bid for a run at the open 2nd district House seat this fall, Arkansas state Sen. Gilbert Baker (R) released a statement Tuesday reiterating his intention to unseat Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) in November.

"I am not running for the House of Representatives," Baker said in his statement. "I am, and will be, a candidate for the United States Senate. ... This will not be an easy campaign. However, I am firmly committed to defeating Blanche Lincoln and I will stand up to Barack Obama's extreme agenda."

Baker has been viewed as the frontrunner in the nine-way GOP Senate primary but speculation that might drop down to the House race began after Arkansas Rep. John Boozman, the lone Republican in the state's Congressional delegation, acknowledged last week that he was openly considering entering the Senate race.

"This is something that for the last several weeks I've been thinking about," Boozman said Monday. He said that he planned on meeting with National Republican Senatorial Committee officials on Tuesday and that he'll make a final decision on the Senate race by Wednesday or Thursday.

"I've told the rest of the candidates [in the Senate primary] that I wasn't playing games. It's not fair to them" to drag the decision out past this week, Boozman said.

CQ Politics rates the Arkansas general election as at Tossup.

To see how the 2010 Senate races are shaping up, check out the CQ Politics' election map.