Foy passes on Senate run

Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy has decided not to seek the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate next year.

Foy, 53, had been exploring a Senate bid for several months as he prepares to end his tenure as mayor of the college town, reports Rob Christensen.

He said his decision was as much personal as it was political.

"I've been in elective office for 12 years," Foy said. "I felt I wanted to do something new. It didn't involve a campaign and didn't involve another office. It was not something I wanted to do right now."

Foy, a law professor at N.C. Central University in Durham, has been active in a number of liberal causes. He was co-chairman of Mayors Against Illegal Guns along with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and he was a member of Mayors for Peace, which advocates abolition of nuclear weapons. He is chairman of the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, a group of the mayors of the state's 26 largest cities.

There are already two Democratic Senate candidates: Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Chapel Hill attorney Kenneth Lewis. Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham of Lexington is expected to join the race shortly.