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Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said he won’t run for a U.S. Senate seat in his home state of New Hampshire.

Lewandowski had considered entering the Republican primary to challenge two-term Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, whom GOP leaders considered vulnerable after she narrowly won re-election in 2014. He had received encouragement from Trump, though the president did not outright endorse him.

(1/3) After much consideration I have decided to forgo a campaign for the US Senate. While taking on a career politician from the Washington swamp is a tall order, I am certain I would have won. My priorities remain my family and ensuring that @realDonaldTrump is re-elected POTUS — Corey R. Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) December 31, 2019

An Emerson College poll conducted in September found that Republican primary voters preferred Lewandowski by a double-digit margin over two declared candidates, retired Army General Don Bolduc and a state legislator, Bill O’Brien. But Lewandowski would enter the race against Shaheen facing a 10-point deficit, the poll found.

New Hampshire Democrats had signaled they would make an issue of how Lewandowski has earned a living since he left Trump’s employment. He co-founded a lobbying firm, Avenue Strategies, but left in 2017 and now runs his own consulting firm without registering as a lobbyist. That has allowed him to advise companies seeking influence in Washington without filing lobbying disclosures identifying his clients or the issues they’re pursuing.

Lewandowksi speaks often to the president and has repeatedly traveled with him on Air Force One. He previously ran for office in Massachusetts and in New Hampshire but was unsuccessful.

Shaheen was first elected to the Senate in 2008 after having served as New Hampshire’s governor from 1997 to 2003 and before that as a state senator.