Former Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said Friday she will not run for governor again in 2014.

Sink, 65, told The Associated Press that she wants to spend more time running her foundation, Florida Next, which seeks to help young entrepreneurs grow their startup companies.

Sink was the 2010 Democratic nominee and narrowly lost to Republican Rick Scott in a year when other Democrats seeking statewide office were badly beaten.

The decision means Republican turned Democrat former Gov. Charlie Crist will have an easier time if he runs for his old job with his new party. He’s expected to make an announcement this fall.

Sink had been considering a run, but the prospect became less enticing after last year’s death of her husband Bill McBride, a Tampa lawyer who was the Democrats 2002 nominee for governor. She’s a businesswoman who hasn’t always been comfortable in the role of a politician. She spent her career in banking and ran Bank of America’s Florida operation before running for office for the first time in 2006.

She had said previously that she didn’t want to run against an incumbent governor. She didn’t announce her gubernatorial run four years ago until Crist announced he would run for Senate instead of a second term as governor. Crist, running as an independent, lost the Senate race to Republican Marco Rubio.

If she had decided to run, she likely would have faced serious competition in a primary for the first time. She had no opponent when she won the CFO seat in 2006 and had no serious challengers for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010.

Right now, little-known former state Sen. Nan Rich is the only credible candidate seeking to challenge Scott, whose approval rating remains low.

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AP: Alex Sink says she won’t run for Florida governor | Naked Politics
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