Republican George Allen won’t run for governor

? George Allen, a former U.S. senator and governor of Virginia, will not run to lead the state again in 2009, he said Tuesday.

Allen made his plans public in a statement to The Associated Press to end speculation about his participation in the upcoming gubernatorial race. He served as governor from 1994 to 1998 and in the U.S. Senate from 2001 until last year, when he suffered a bruising re-election loss to Democrat Jim Webb.

The Republican wrote that he and his wife, Susan, had struggled with and prayed about whether to run for governor again so soon after the loss.

“We will always fondly recall our time in the Governor’s Mansion as an unparalleled honor and a period of historic initiatives and transformational accomplishments for Virginians. Yet, as we look forward, we are excited about other significant ways we can serve and contribute outside of elected office. Therefore, I will not be a candidate for Governor in 2009,” he wrote.