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Colorado Congressman Ed Perlmutter is reconsidering his decision to leave politics

Perlmutter considering running for re-election
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DENVER -- Congressman Ed Perlmutter says he may not be done with politics after all.

Looking at video of last month’s announcement that he was pulling out of the governor’s race and wouldn’t be running for re-election, Perlmutter said the decision was one he’s now reconsidering.

“I’ve had a lot of people ask me to reconsider running for the House,” Perlmutter, a Democrat who represents Colorado's 7th District, told Anne Trujillo on this week’s Politics Unplugged. “I’m listening to that but I’m also looking at what my options might be.”

Trujillo asked the congressman what’s holding him back.

“I’ve served for a while and I kind of want to see what other opportunities are out there,” Perlmutter said. “On the other hand, I’ve loved serving the people of our state and I love the kinds of topics we work on, whether it’s aerospace issues and getting our astronauts to Mars or building a new VA hospital and having to deal with all the hurdles we had to overcome. But it’s a way to give back to our community.”

Rep. Perlmutter said when it comes to running for governor, he simply bit off more than he could chew.

“Raising the kind of money you have to raise to be competitive and getting around our state which is a big darn state and introducing myself to them and I realized I couldn’t do all those things,” he said. “It was humbling and embarrassing but it is what it is.”

Politics Unplugged airs Sundays at 4:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Denver7.