Ford won't run for U.S. Senate in N.Y.

NEW YORK, March 1 (UPI) -- Former Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., said Monday he will not run for the U.S. Senate in his adopted home state of New York.

Ford's decision not to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for the Democratic nomination came under pressure from Democratic Party officials, The New York Times reported. Gillibrand succeeded former Sen. Hillary Clinton after Clinton left the Senate to become U.S. Secretary of State.

The Times Monday published a column by Ford in which he said "there are compelling reasons" for him to run but he decided against running after "Democratic Party insiders started their own campaign to bully me out of the race."

"They're nervous," Ford wrote. "New Yorkers are clamoring for change. Our political system -- so bogged down in partisan fighting -- is sapping the morale of New Yorkers and preventing government at every level from fulfilling its duty."

Ford said if he were to run "the likely result would be a brutal and highly negative Democratic primary -- a primary where the winner emerges weakened and the Republican strengthened."

"I refuse to do anything that would help Republicans win a Senate seat in New York, and give the Senate majority to the Republicans," he said.

White House officials have indicated they would not welcome a Ford Senate campaign and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., personally urged Ford not to run, the Times said.