Former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker said Wednesday he will focus for the next 15 months on accomplishing as much as he can before leaving the U.S. Senate.
He did not rule out running for governor of Tennessee, but he said a number of candidates have already been working for many months on their campaigns. He said the time to think about that was about a year ago.
Senator Corker, who announced this week that he does not plan to seek another six-year term in the U.S. Senate, said he expects that Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn may run for the seat he now holds, as well as former Congressman Stephen Fincher.
He said Governor Bill Haslam is a possibility, though he said he is focused on finishing strong as governor.
He said of retired football star Peyton Manning that "I don't think the interest level is very high. It's very, very low," though he said he might get involved in politics at some point.
He said of a Manning candidacy, "Is it out of the question? - No. Is it likely? No."
He said he is not endorsing anybody for the post.
Meanwhile, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke told the Nashville Tennessean he is considering running for the Senate seat on the Democratic ticket.
Senator Corker said frustration was not a reason for leaving. He said he had felt all along that he would not serve more than two terms, and he said he had misgivings in 2012 about running again.
He said it is "an incredible privilege" to serve as a U.S. Senator, and he said serving as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee makes it difficult to leave.
Senator Corker said he had been talking with his family for a year about the decision, and he said his close friend, Governor Haslam, has known that he likely would not run.
Click here and here for Senator Corker's remarks.