Philly mag editor staying put, not running for Congress or anywhere else

Philadelphia magazine editor Larry Platt announced to staff today that he will not run next year as a Democrat for the 6th Congressional District seat held by Republican Jim Gerlach.

"After being a prospective candidate for two days at the Pennsylvania Society last weekend," Platt tells the Daily Examiner, "I was so sick of my own voice, so tired of hearing me talk about me, that I realized this life change wasn't for me. "When you're a journalist, I realized, you're interested in hearing and conveying other peoples' stories. When you're obsessed with your own story, you create your own little echo chamber inside your head. It's not fun," he told the Daily Examiner, a Philly mag blog.

Platt, who several years back briefly considered running for Curt Weldon's 7th District seat, which was won by Joe Sestak, told us in October that he was asked by U.S. Rep. and Democratic City Chairman Bob Brady to "think about doing that thing you talked about two years ago. PoliticsPA broke the story of Platt's renewed interest in a congressional seat in October.

Some journalists and political observers felt that Platt should have resigned when he said he was considering the run. Platt told us he would have resigned the moment he declared candidacy.

He did not immediately return an e-mail today asking whether he'd assure readers in an editor's letter that the integrity of the magazine's political coverage should not be compromised.