Reversing course on his recent decision to retire, Arizona Republican John Shadegg will run for re-election, he announced yesterday, following a week in which dozens of his fellow members of Congress urged him to reconsider, the Arizona Republic reports.

One hundred forty five Republican members in all signed a letter urging Shadegg to run again, as did more than thirty leaders of prominent conservative organizations, he said. Even a security guard at the Phoenix airport, Shadegg told reporters, encouraged him to give it one more go.

The reversal comes a week and a half after Shadegg's surprise February 11 announcement that he would step down. In the interim, several potential replacements had considered making bids, but with Shadegg back in, every Republican but former state legislator Steve May backed out.

After the September 2 primary, Shadegg will face Democratic attorney Bob Lord, who has raised an impressive amount of money for a little-known challenger -- he finished 2007 with over $500,000 in the bank, still a ways behind Shadegg's $863,000 but strong for a challenger nonetheless.

Washington Democrats are not so quietly talking their candidate up, though in his retirement announcement two weeks ago Shadegg said he had polling showing himself with a wide 30-point lead over Lord. The northern Phoenix district favors Republicans, but like the rest of the state the demographics are changing and Democrats are getting stronger.

Back in the race, Shadegg once again makes the Third District a Republican-leaning race, but, thanks to Lord's performance on the fundraising circuit, one to keep an eye on.