J.C. Watts will not seek Nickles' seat

Published: Oct. 7, 2003 at 5:21 PM

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Former Rep. J.C. Watts said Tuesday that he would not be a candidate for the seat of retiring Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla.

In a statement praising Nickles for his service, Watts explained he had "already received many phone calls and other messages urging me to stand for election" but he had decided against it.

"When I chose to step down from my congressional duties in 2002, I embarked on an exciting new journey in my life. This journey has me in a direction that neither my family nor I am prepared to change at this time," Watts said.

For some time the only black Republican member of Congress, Watts spent two terms as chairman of the House Republican Conference, the No. 4 post in the GOP leadership.

"I'm confident the Republican Party will field a strong candidate in the tradition of Senator Nickles, and it is my intention to do all I can help to elect that person to the U.S. Senate," Watts said.

© 2003 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
NBA: Phoenix 113, Toronto 94 (17 min)
Report: No LAX footage of Tyson fight (19 min)
Tiger: Crash my fault; rumors malicious (31 min)
Virginia cans football Coach Al Groh (56 min)
Nets fire Coach Lawrence Frank
Motors may be nixed in part of Everglades
Italy wins World Cup of Golf
fark
Who knew hospitals had cannons?
Photoshop this crouching monk
10,000 east African albinos in hiding to avoid being dismembered and sold piecemeal to witchdoctors....
No Problem? Yeah, someone has a problem with that
Man steals kettle from Salvation Army bellringer. Subby would have prefered he just took the bell...
And at halftime, the score is Geeses 2; Hunters 0