Gary Johnson to Run for U.S. Senate? Not Likely

With news of Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s impending retirement, the blogsosphere has been abuzz with speculation that former Gov. Gary Johnson might jump into the fray.

Based on my conversation with him last week before the CPAC conference (and admittedly that is before he knew Bingaman would retire), Johnson has zero interest in a Senate run. Johnson is mulling a presidential bid on a fiercely conservative fiscal platform, and as he sees it, serving in the Senate would be completely counter to his message of fiscal responsibility.

Here’s what he told me last week:

“I think the job is first and foremost bellying up to the trough and I
would be terrible bellying up to the trough,” Johnson said.  “No – I
don’t want to be a part of what I have seen is just all about how much
money you can bring home.”