"Under intense pressure from Democratic Party officials," Harold Ford Jr. (D) "has decided not to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in the primary this fall," the New York Times reports.
"He has told friends that, while he is convinced he could prevail against Ms. Gillibrand, he feared the winner of the primary would have little money and remain highly vulnerable to a well-financed Republican challenger at a time when the Democratic party controls the Senate by a slim majority."
Ford writes a New York Times op-ed: "I've examined this race in every possible way, and I keep returning to
the same fundamental conclusion: If I run, the likely result would be a
brutal and highly negative Democratic primary -- a primary where the
winner emerges weak-ened and the Republican strengthened."