Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ruled out Sunday running for a U.S. Senate seat next year, saying his mission is to “bring sanity to Washington through redistricting reform like we passed here in California.”

A Politico story last week cited Republican insiders giddy about the prospect of former “Terminator” action hero-turned-politician running for the U.S. Senate in 2018. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who would be up for re-election, would be 85 years old.

“Gerrymandering has completely broken our political system and I believe my best platform to help repair it is from the outside by campaigning for independent redistricting commissions,” Schwarzenegger wrote Sunday on his Facebook page.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Daniel Ketchell did not rule out the possibility however, telling the politics website last week “we are keeping all of our options open” about how the former governor could best fight for redistricting reform.

• Related story: Arnold Schwarzenegger quits ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ over Trump ‘baggage’

But Dan Schnur, professor at USC’s Annenberg School for Communications, said he was not surprised Schwarzenegger is not throwing his hat in the ring for the Senate seat.

“This looks more like a rumor started by Republicans worried about their lack of a Senate candidate than anything that Schwarzenegger himself took all that seriously,” Schnur said Sunday.

In fact, Schwarzenegger has not given any indication since he left the governor’s office in January, 2011 that he’s interested in another political campaign, Schnur said. And even if he did want to run again, a campaign against Feinstein, who has won her last few elections by “very wide margins,” would not make much sense.

Schwarzenegger “has always emphasized building the political center in both parties,” Schnur added. “Feinstein represents the kind of elected official who he’s trying to promote.”

Schwarzenegger, who has publicly feuded with President Donald Trump in recent weeks, said Sunday he was “deeply flattered” by those who have approached him about potentially running for the Senate.

“Thank you for your kind messages and all of the support and I hope you’ll join me in my battle against gerrymandering with the same enthusiasm,” he wrote.

The former Republican governor was the reason there was redistricting reform in California, which has eliminated the inherent conflict of interest that occurs when politicians get to draw their own districts “and in effect choose their own voters,” Schnur said. There’s also been an increase in the number of centrist office holders of the type that Schwarzenegger has praised, he added.

“Schwarzenegger has a unique ability in the political universe to get people who don’t care about politics to pay attention,” Schnur said. “Redistricting tends to be a technical and arcane topic; Schwarzenegger may be able to make it a more accessible issue for people who don’t pay a lot of attention to such things.”

California’s 38th governor has recently grabbed headlines after he and Trump have been sparring over the declining ratings of the show “The Celebrity Apprentice” and the president’s failure to release his tax returns.

Schwarzenegger has been hosting the reality TV show after Trump left his position as host to pursue his presidential bid.

Schwarzenegger announced earlier this month that he’s leaving the embattled NBC series after one season because of the show’s “baggage.” While NBC parted ways with Trump as host, the U.S. president remains connected to the show as a producer.

Schwarzenegger had been quoted in Empire magazine that he was ready to bolt the show because of its continued association with Trump.

“It’s not about the show,” Schwarzenegger told the magazine. “Everyone I ran into came up to me and said, ‘I love the show … but I turned it off because as soon as I read Trump’s name, I’m outta there!’ ”

On Feb. 2, Trump poked fun at Schwarzenegger during the National Prayer Breakfast saying “Celebrity Apprentice” had become a “total disaster” since the movie star took over hosting duties. Trump asked attendees to pray for Schwarzenegger’s ratings.

The next day, Schwarzenegger responded by tweeting a link to a 2006 Los Angeles Daily News article about him releasing his tax records when he was governor of California.

Trump has refused to release his tax returns, which has become customary for presidents in recent decades.

Staff Writer Anita Bennett contributed to this report.