Richards, 67, told reporters Monday he plans to focus his attention on being speaker of the House.When asked for comment, Gov. Fletcher said who's he again.
"I am running for speaker of the House in '07 and that's the only thing I'm running for," said Richards, D-Bowling Green.
The longtime House speaker lost the Democratic nomination in the 2003 primary election to then-Attorney General Ben Chandler. Bruce Lunsford, another candidate for the Democratic nomination in that race, withdrew as a candidate and supported Richards.
After losing to Fletcher in the governor's race, Chandler went on to serve in the U.S. House as Kentucky's 6th District congressman.
Richards said recent speculation that he would make another attempt at the governor's office fueled his announcement. He hadn't "really been considering" another run and decided to remove himself from the list of potential candidates, Richards said.
"I haven't really been considering this, but so many people have asked me about it and it's sort of taken a life on of its own in the press, that I just thought it'd be best to clear it up," Richards said.
Richards was first elected House speaker in 1995. He's been a member of the House since 1976.
In all seriousness, this paves the way for Jonathan Miller and Ben Chandler to name a few. Jonathan is my pick to take back the mansion. Not that this is a race or anything but he's the one guy I think that can.
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