RICHMOND, Aug. 29 -- Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) plans to announce Tuesday that he will not challenge Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) next year, leaving the popular Democrat free to explore a presidential bid, several close associates said Monday.
Warner, who leaves office in January, will announce his decision on his monthly radio show on WTOP, said Virginia Democratic Party Chairman C. Richard Cranwell, a Warner confidant.
"He is not going to run for the Senate," Cranwell said. "He really wants to finish out his term strong. He doesn't want anything to distract from that."
A senior political aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because Warner wants to make his own announcement said: "He is not going to run. He is going to announce it tomorrow."
Warner would not comment, but he has said he will make his plans known very soon. His spokeswoman, Ellen Qualls, also would not comment.
The announcement would rob Virginia of what could have been a blockbuster political confrontation in 2006. Allen, a former governor who is ending his first term in the Senate, remains popular at home and is also considering a run at the presidency in 2008.
Warner's decision to avoid an immediate clash with Allen sets up the possibility that the two might meet on a much larger battleground two years later. Warner is barred by Virginia's constitution from running for a second consecutive term as governor.
A Senate battle with Allen now might have forced Warner to emphasize his more liberal credentials in order to draw sharp contrasts between the two. That could damage Warner's efforts to present himself as a moderate alternative to likely candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
Warner "might have won. He might have lost," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "But the risks were enormous. It could have killed his 2008 presidential candidacy."
Allen's advisers said they are not ready to believe that Warner will pass up a run for the Senate next year.
"Until filing deadline, we'll be prepared to face a wealthy self-funder with statewide name ID," said Allen campaign manager Jason Miller, referring to Warner. "That's how we're approaching the reelection."
Top Allen aides insisted that Allen would beat Warner in a head-to-head contest. Allen completed a two-week "listening tour" of the state this month, traveling from far southwestern Virginia to the suburbs of Hampton Roads.
