Vilsack will not run for Senate

By Erin Murphy, Lee Des Moines Bureau

DES MOINES - Tom Vilsack will not run for Iowa's U.S. Senate seat in 2020.

The Des Moines Register first reported the news Friday.

Vilsack, the former two-term Iowa governor and federal agriculture secretary, was considered a potential Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate race against Republican first-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst.

'Sec. Vilsack has been and continues to be an outstanding public servant both for the people of Iowa and our nation. He would have been a tremendous advocate for Iowa in the Senate and we appreciate his thoughtful and deliberate consideration of making a run for this seat,” Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price said in a statement.

Vilsack was Iowa's governor from 1999 to January of 2007. He served as federal ag secretary for President Barack Obama's entire two terms, from 2009 to 2016.

No candidate has officially declared for Iowa's 2020 U.S. Senate race, other than the incumbent.

Ernst is facing re-election for the first time since her 2014 victory over former U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley. That was an open-seat race created by the retirement of longtime Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin.