Republican National Committeeman Sean Mahoney will not run for U.S. Senate.

In a statement released yesterday, Mahoney wrote that while he considered running, his priority was ensuring that there was a candidate in the race who supported conservative principles.

"After listening to the announced candidates at various forums and meetings I am confident that we'll have a true conservative leading the charge to keep the seat in Republican hands," Mahoney wrote.

Mahoney has also been named as a possible challenger to Democratic Gov. John Lynch, and his statement did not rule that out.

"For me it is imperative that we have a strong conservative candidate running for every office from Governor on down," he wrote. Mahoney wrote that he will continue to work as Republican National Committeeman and will "continue to look for other ways that I can be an asset to our party and our state."

The Senate race for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Judd Gregg now includes Republicans Kelly Ayotte, Ovide Lamontagne, Bill Binnie and Jim Bender. The Republican nominee is expected to face Democrat Paul Hodes.