State Sen. Frank Morse of Albany won't be running for governor next year.

He made the announcement during a Tuesday recording session at the Democrat-Herald for Oregon Week, a video interview program available starting this afternoon on democratherald.com.

Morse, 66, said it was likely that he would seek re-election to the state Senate instead.

He is completing his second four-year term in Senate District 8, covering Albany, Corvallis, Tangent, Millersburg and Adair Village.

The filing deadline for state offices in the primary next May is not until March 9, 2010.

A few weeks ago Morse had let it be known he was considering suggestions from persons - he did not say who - that he run for governor next year. Among those who backed the idea was Linn County Commission Roger Nyquist.

On Tuesday, Morse said he had decided an election campaign for governor was not right for him.

During several legislative sessions over his two Senate terms so far, Morse has pushed for reforms in the state tax and budget systems, which he considers unsustainable the way they are, but his plan has gained no traction.

A former part-owner and executive of the gravel and road-construction company now known as Knife River, he has been advocating lower income and capital gains taxes coupled with consumption tax - a sales tax, essentially. He believes that such a system would lessen the tax burden on Oregonians while tapping the underground economy.

Morse has met twice with Chris Dudley, a former player for the Portland Trail Blazers, and plans to meet with him again. Dudley has formed an exploratory committee for governor.

Morse described Dudley, a Yale graduate, as a moderate Republican "who may be a very viable candidate" for governor.

Morse believes Dudley, seven feet tall and a "fine family man," might well be able to bridge the political gulf that divides Oregon.