Former GOP Rep. Joe Schwarz won't run as Dem against Walberg

Former Republican Rep. Joe Schwarz (Mich.), who had been recruited by Democrats to take on Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), won't run after all, he told The Hill on Friday.

Schwarz, running between meetings, quickly confirmed a report from MLive.com, a local news source, that he'd decided against a run.

His decision is a blow to Democratic hopes of winning back the seat, which they'd wrested from Walberg in 2008 before he won it back in 2010. The district, which already leaned Republican, became safer for the GOP in redistricting, and Democrats have failed to recruit a top candidate to run there. The filing deadline for candidates is May 15.

Schwarz, a one-term congressman, lost a 2006 GOP primary to Walberg after beating him in 2004.

The report says he'd decided against a campaign because he didn't live in the district and because a run would keep him from teaching and serving on the charitable boards he's involved in — the same concerns he voiced to The Hill when he first started looking at a run.