NBC has a statement from Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge on his potential 2010 Senate bid.

“After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party, I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate,” Ridge said in a statement, adding later, “The 2010 race has significant implications for my party, and that required thoughtful reflection. All of the above made my decision a difficult and deeply personal conclusion to reach. … To those who believe that the Republican Party is facing challenges; they are right. To those who believe the Democratic Party is without its own difficulties, they are wrong. No one party has a monopoly on all of the answers. … And so my desire and intention is to help my party craft solutions that both sides of the aisle can embrace.”

This comes on the heels of a Quinnipiac poll that shows Ridge would be only three points behind Specter in a general election. Republican party leaders had been hoping to recruit the moderate Ridge to take on conservative former Congressman Pat Toomey in the Republican primary.

NRSC Chairman John Cornyn is now faced with the choice of either convincing moderate Congressman Jim Gerlach from the western Philadelphia suburbs to get in the game, or supporting Toomey. Either way, this is a key race for the GOP moving forward, and will surely prove to be an expensive and contentious battle.