Former Gov. Jesse Ventura announced last night on CNN's "Larry King Live" that he won't run for Senate in Minnesota. The would-be independent candidate had been considering challenging GOP Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.

Ventura said reasons for not running included saving his family from media scrutiny. "Nothing is off-limits today in the world of politics," he said, according to CNN.com. "These are some of the dilemmas that I go through: Do I want to put my family on the firing line again?"

With both Coleman and Franken continuing to raise large sums of money, this looks to be one of the most expensive races in the country. This could also have played a factor in Ventura's decision.

The official filing deadline for Minnesota candidates is today at 5 p.m. central. One name that could surface in the race by then is former Sen. Dean Barkley, whom Ventura appointed to fill the remaining two months of the late Paul Wellstone's term in 2002. As of yesterday, Barkley continued to say he was considering running if Ventura did not.