Tancredo Says He Won’t Seek Re-Election

Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo announced Monday he won’t seek a sixth term in Congress from Colorado next year, saying he has succeeded in making illegal immigration a national issue.

But Tancredo said he will continue his long-shot bid for the White House and hinted that if that fails, we would consider running for the Senate.

The lawmaker said he doesn’t need to stay in the House to push illegal immigration because “the issue now has a life of its own and it doesn’t need one particular person to champion it.”

“I feel my job, my task, has been completed. And I am very much at peace with the idea that if I’m not elected president, then I won’t be running” for another term in Congress, he said.

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In a telephone interview from Iowa, where he is campaigning, Tancredo called his presidential run an odd experience because people like his stand on immigration but support other candidates.

“So many people come up and they are applauding and screaming and hollering (for him), but they are wearing somebody else’s sticker,” he said.

Tancredo said he wants to stay involved in public policy, possibly with a group such as the conservative Independence Institute in Golden or running for the Senate.

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Republican Bob Schaffer and Democrat Mark Udall are bidding for the Senate seat that will open when Colorado Republican Wayne Allard retires in early 2009, but Tancredo has not ruled out a run against Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar in 2010.

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