Former Mayor Greg Lashutka said today he will not seek the GOP nomination in 2008 for the 15th Congressional District seat being vacated at the end of next year by retiring Rep. Deborah Pryce, an Upper Arlington Republican.

Lashutka ruled out a run about an hour after former Attorney General Jim Petro said he will not seek the congressional seat, leaving local GOP officials scrambling for a candidate against Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy, the favoried Democrat who narrowly lost to Pryce in 2006.

Lashutka, 63, is in his eighth year as senior vice president of corporate relations for Nationwide Insurance and he said he is neither interested in the congressional seat nor any other elected position at this point.

"For the right person to serve and represent the district, it's a great opportunity, but it's not for me," Lashutka said.

Lashutka served as Columbus mayor from 1992 through 1999 and said he would "never close that door" on a possible future bid for elective office, but now is not the time and Congress is not the venue.

"I'm honored an flattered to be considered, but I think you've got to have a passion for it. I had a passion for being city attorney and I had a passion for being mayor, and I just don't see how I would have a passion for (Congress)."

In a separate interview today with The Dispatch, Petro, 58, said he thought he could have won the seat Republicans have controlled for 40 years, but wants to keep open his option to run for Ohio chief justice in 2010.

"I just made a decision that being a member of Congress is not the best use of my skills," Petro said. "When I consider where my training and experience could be most valuable, I really think I'm better suited for the court."

Petro had been asked to consider running for Congress by Minority Leader John Boehner of West Chester and he was considered the early frontrunner. But late last week, sources said Petro was having second thoughts and local Republicans were hoping to woo Lashutka into the race.

Lashutka and Petro are the latest in a string of potentially strong GOP candidates who have indicated they are not interested in replacing Pryce. State Sen. Steve Stivers of Upper Arlington and state Rep. Jim Hughes of Columbus took themselves out of consideration last week, and former Franklin County Commissioner Dewey Stokes said he would more likely run for commissioner in 2008 than for Congress.

Petro said the GOP had planned to assess the strength of potential candidates in a poll this week of the 15th District "and, of course, my name will not be on it now." Petro, now practicing law in Columbus, has had a long public career as a state lawmaker, Cuyahog County commissioner, state auditor and attorney general. He ran for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2006 and was defeated in the primary by J. Kenneth Blackwell.

In forgoing a congressional race, Petro all but announced his candidacy for chief justice to replace Thomas J. Moyer, who, due to Ohio's age 70 mandatory retirement, will leave the court at the end of 2010.

"I just kept thinking the job I would like to do at this point in my career is not in Congress, but I can envision myself in a role on the Supreme Court," Petro said.