Republican State Auditor Dave Vaudt isn’t ruling out the idea he might run for governor in 2010, but Vaudt isn’t saying he will, either. Vaudt was asked during an appearance on Iowa Public Television if he were thinking about running for higher office.

"I entered this public office with the idea that my qualifications made me one of the best suited to serve as Iowa’s state auditor and that’s really been my primary focus and my only focus since running for office in 2001," Vaudt says. Vaudt was elected state auditor in 2002 and reelected in 2006, one of the few bright spots for Republicans on election night.

Democrat Chet Culver was elected governor in 2006 and he’ll be up for reelection in 2010. Culver and Jim Nussle, his Republican opponent, spent over 20 million dollars on that campaign. Vaudt suggests the prospect of raising millions of dollars for a race for governor isn’t a primary factor in his decision-making.

"I think it’s so important to make sure that whenever you’re making one of those decisions that you look at the facts and the circumstances and say, ‘Can I make a difference if I run for that office?’ and I think somebody trying to make that decision today doesn’t have enough facts to make that decision and I definitely wouldn’t be comfortable making that type of decision," Vaudt says, "so I continue to try and carry out my job as state auditor and will continue to do that." If Vaudt were to run for governor in 2010, he would not be able to run for state auditor at the same time.

"I’m flattered by the fact that other people would consider me to be a potential candidate for a higher office," Vaudt said. "I look at it and say the next election cycle isn’t until 2010 and we haven’t even gotten through the 2008 election cycle yet so it’s a long ways off….I’m only about a third of the way through my current, four-year term so I’ve got a long ways to go before I’d try to make one of those decisions."

Vaudt made his comments during taping of the I-P-T-V program, "Iowa Press," which airs tonight at 7:30.