Outside the Beltway

SPENDING MORE TIME WITH THEIR FAMILIES

James Joyner · Thursday, August 14, 2003 · 1 comment

Politics1 reports the retirement of a couple of old political hands:

Montana Governor Judy Martz (R) announced Wednesday that she will not be a candidate for re-election next year to a second term. Martz cited the obligatory “spend more time with my family” reason — and denied it was because of her dismal 20% approval rating in the polls and the likelihood that she could even lose her primary for renomination. A series of political gaffes and missteps caused Martz’s approval rating to crash over the past two years. Secretary of State Bob Brown, former State GOP Chair Ken Miller and former State Senator Tom Keating were already announced opponents in the Republican primary — and even Lieutenant Governor Karl Ohs was weighing a primary challenge against his former runningmate. Wealthy farmer Brian Schweitzer (D) — the Dem nominee who narrowly lost a 2000 US Senate race — remains unopposed for his party’s nomination.

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Embattled West Virginia Governor Bob Wise (D) announced Tuesday that he would not be a candidate for re-election next year. The announcement was not entirely unexpected in the wake of extensive news reports of his sexual affair with a married state employee now going through a messy divorce. Instead of seeking a second term, Wise said he would spend the next 15 months “working to heal the pain I caused my family … by being a full-time father and husband” and “be an effective Governor and meet the challenges our state faces.” Before the scandal broke, Wise had already raised $1 million for his campaign — much more than any of this several challengers. Since then, prominent Democrats have jumped into the race — joining an already crowded field of GOP candidates.