Former U.S. Representative Harold Ford, Jr. says it's too early for him to decide whether to run for Tennessee governor in 2010. The Memphis Democrat says he's been urged to run, but that he doesn't want a drawn-out gubernatorial campaign to interfere with efforts by current Governor Phil Bredesen and the Legislature to address the state's economic woes.

  Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced Sunday that he would stay out of the race. That decision has been followed by the announcement by three Republicans that they will run - Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, U.S. Representative Zach Wamp of Chattanooga and Memphis prosecutor Bill Gibbons.

  Ford narrowly lost the 2006 Senate race to Republican Bob Corker, a former Chattanooga mayor.