LANSING (Michigan News Source) – Former Congressman and Ambassador to the Netherlands, Pete Hoekstra, told Michigan News Source today that he’s not interested in running to be Michigan’s GOP chairperson.

When asked about leaving the race, he said, “I was never in the race. I made it clear that I was considering it, I was evaluating it …whether that was a step or a plunge that I wanted to take…And I decided for me, at this time, that’s not what I want to be doing.”

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He said that being the GOP Chair is not a good fit for him at this time and that he has plenty of projects to keep in busy including his work with the Center for Security Policy, a think tank out of Washington DC, that he is able to work with from his home in Holland. He writes and speaks on national security issues as well as consulting with companies taking product to market which he made clear was not part of any kind of lobbying effort.

Hoekstra also said that he is not making any endorsements for the Chairperson position at this point but that could change in the future.

The current crop of candidates who have announced that they are running for the Michigan GOP Chair position currently includes former GOP Secretary of State candidate Kristina Karamo, former GOP Attorney General candidate Matt DePerno, businesswoman and past U.S. House candidate Lena Epstein, and Tuscola County Republican Party Chairman Billy Putman.

The chairperson will be chosen in February by Michigan Republican precinct delegates at the party’s convention.