Politics & Government

Tom Price Declines U.S. Senate Bid

The 6th District Congressman will run to keep his House seat.

U.S. Rep. Tom Price, (R-Roswell), who represents East Cobb and Northeast Cobb in Congress, will not be running for the U.S. Senate in 2014.

He told The Marietta Daily Journal Friday he will be seeking re-election instead to his 6th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"Our assessment at this point is the House is the battleground for politics in this country right now,” Price was quoted as telling the newspaper. “The president has identified it as the place where he wants to wage that battle, and he believes that taking the House is what will allow him to have an unfettered run at this agenda, and we’ve got to stop that.”

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Price has been one of the most vocal critics of Democratic President Barack Obama, and was considered a candidate for the Senate seat that is being vacated by two-term Republican Saxby Chambliss.

Price is the third prominent public official to announce this week he won't run for the Senate. The other two are Democrats, U.S. Rep. John Barrow of the Athens area, and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

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Also mulling a Senate bid is Republican Congressman Jack Kingston of the Savannah area.

In March, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) announced his candidacy to succeed Chambliss.

Price, whose district includes north Fulton, Sandy Springs, and part of north DeKalb, had more than $2 million in the bank at the end of the first quarter of this year as he weighed a possible campaign for the Senate.

While some conservative activists in Washington were eager for a Price Senate bid, others were doubtful.

Kennesaw State University political science professor Kerwin Swint told the MDJ today that Price's seniority in the House -- where he is vice chairman of the Budget Committee -- positions him better for future leadership roles.

"He could climb the ladder much more quickly in the House than he could in the Senate," Swint said.


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