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WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, long rumored to be considering a run for governor of Florida when Gov. Jeb Bush steps down next year, said Wednesday he will not, and instead will seek re-election to the Senate in 2006.
"I love the Senate. I have hit my stride," Nelson, a Democrat, said in a meeting with reporters Wednesday evening. "I love the senators; I love having the privilege of representing the people of Florida in the Senate.
"I'm running for re-election, and the good Lord willing and the people willing, I'm going to continue to represent Florida."
By law, Florida governors may serve only two four-year terms, and Bush, a Republican, must step down next year. No clear front-runners to succeed him have emerged from either party.
Nelson, Florida's senior elected Democrat, also said the state's delegation to the Democratic National Committee acted too hastily in endorsing former presidential candidate Howard Dean as the party's national chairman.
Dean, who says he represents the liberal wing of the party, is fighting several other candidates for the job.
Democratic leaders from several other states are waiting to make their decision closer to the official Feb. 12 vote, and Florida's should have, too, Nelson said.
"I think it was ill-advised for them to step out this early ... because it takes away their leverage" for demanding organizational help from national Democrats, Nelson said.
Nelson, a former member of the House of Representatives, was elected in 2000. He is Florida's only Democrat holding an elected statewide office.