Phoenix mayor will not run for Congress

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Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon has announced that he will not run for the seat of retiring Republican Congressman John Shadegg.

The two-term Democratic mayor had weighed whether to enter the race for the Republican-leaning Congressional District 3, which includes the northern portion of Phoenix, parts of Paradise Valley and far north suburbs.

"After careful, deliberate consideration and talking with family and supporters, the best way that I could help the Valley and Phoenix the city is staying as mayor," Gordon said on Thursday. "That what I am going to focus on going forward."

Gordon added that as he considered a congressional run, he received "exciting" encouragement from power brokers in Washington D.C. as well as from Republicans and Democrats in the Valley. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the chairman of the committee aimed at getting Democrats elected to Congress had approached Gordon about the seat.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/02/25/20100225phil-gordon-will-not-run-for-congress.html