Retired USS Cole commander running for Congress

The commander of the USS Cole during the 2000 terrorist attack on the destroyer is running for Congress in Nevada.

Retired Navy Commander Kirk Lippold announced his run for the GOP nomination in the state's 2nd House district Thursday. The seat is open as current Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) is running for Senate.

"I’m not a career politician and I don’t intend to be one," the first-time candidate said in a statement. "But there are times when the call to serve cannot be ignored. This is one of those times."

Lippold, a 26-year Navy veteran, wants to focus on reducing the national deficit. "I will fight every day to shrink the role of government, get Nevadans back to work, and pay down the national debt," he said.

Lippold was in charge of the USS Cole when it was attacked by al Qaeda terrorists while in port in Yemen. Seventeen sailors died in the incident.

Also on Thursday, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki (R) issued a statement saying he won't decide on a run for the seat until after the current session of the Nevada Legislature concludes in June. 

Noting he'd been "energized and touched by the groundswell of encouragement," Krolicki said "now is not the proper time for a final decision to enter this race and to begin an all-consuming campaign. ... [T]here are simply too many issues of consequence being debated in the Legislature which demand all participants’ undivided attention."

Meanwhile, Lippold joins former Senate candidate Sharron Angle, who announced in March, in the primary for Heller's seat. Angle, a Christian conservative, is expected to be a formidable opponent, having run for the GOP nomination in the district before in 2006, when she lost to Heller by 421 votes.

Lippold took aim at his likely primary opponents, noting each has a long political career.

"I can't remember an election cycle in Nevada in which Sharron Angle or Brian Krolicki weren't running for something," Lippold said. "They both have some good qualities but now is not the time for habitual, serial candidates. Now is the time for new conservative leadership."

--Updated at 4:52 p.m.