The race for Wisconsin’s next lieutenant governor is still up in the air, as one candidate announced Tuesday he will be dropping out, while another candidate may be joining.

Milwaukee Ald. Tony Zielinski, District 14, said Milwaukee Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett encouraged him to drop out of the race because Barrett did not believe two candidates from Milwaukee could be successful. However, Zielinski said he could not ?in good conscience? decide to leave the race until another candidate with elected position experience decided to join. Assembly Majority Leader Tom Nelson, D-Kaukauna, is just such a candidate, Zielinski said.

Nelson has currently made no official campaign announcement but confirmed he has filed papers with the Government Accountability Board to enter the election. He added he will be making the official announcement within the coming weeks.

Although Zielinski said he did not agree with Barrett’s assessment of having two candidates from Milwaukee, he decided to drop out of the race to strengthen the Democratic ticket.

“The bottom line is you need a ticket that’s on the same page as far as the state is concerned, and Tom Barrett feels that two people from Milwaukee can’t win,” Zielinski said. “I want to be a team player and work with our party to elect the best governor for the state of Wisconsin.”

Zielinski said he believes Nelson would be a strong candidate, which is needed when someone is in a position that is one step away from the governor.

Currently there are three other Democratic contenders for lieutenant governor: Sen. Spencer Coggs, D-Milwaukee, and businessmen Henry Sanders and James Schneider.

Four Republican candidates are also still in the running: former news anchor Rebecca Kleefisch, Defense Contractor Ben Collins, Superior Mayor Dave Ross and Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon.

State Senate race

In a separate race, retired Sen. Ted Kanavas, R-Brookfield, announced Tuesday he will not run for United States Senate.

Kanavas had considered running after he retired from the state Senate last January, Kanavas’ campaign manager Shawn Lundie said.

After he retired, Kanavas was encouraged by many supporters and friends to enter the race, and Kanavas considered it because he was “very concerned” with the direction the country is going, especially in the last couple years, Lundie said.

He said even though former Secretary of Commerce Dick Leinenkugel announced Monday he will be joining the Senate race as a Republican, Kanavas’ decision not to enter the race was not influenced by this or any other campaign announcements.

“His decision was based on long conversations with his family and what it would take to raise a million dollars plus in a short period of time in order to win the September primary,” Lundie said.

Currently, Leinenkugel, businessmen Terrence Wall and Dave Westlake are the Republican challengers to Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold for one of Wisconsin’s Senate seats.

Lundie added Kanavas has not officially endorsed any other Republican candidate and will not do so until after the Republican state convention.