WASHINGTON —  Former Clinton aide Harold Ickes (search) and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk (search) let top Democrats know Tuesday that they won't be running for chairman of the Democratic National Committee (search).

Kirk, who made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate in 2002, wrote a letter to DNC members Tuesday saying he would not run but was endorsing fellow Texan Martin Frost (search), a former congressman.

"Martin is ... a winning strategist, innovative grass-roots organizer and tough, disciplined spokesperson," Kirk said in his letter.

Ickes, a longtime Democratic activist, also let party members know he would not be running.

"I just decided I probably did not have enough of the attributes (a chairman needs) to do the party justice," Ickes said in an interview.

Among the others who have indicated interest: former presidential candidate Howard Dean (search), former Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer (search), former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard (search), former Texas Democratic chair Molly Beth Malcolm (search) and Democratic activist Donnie Fowler (search).

Democrats will elect a party chair at the party's winter meeting in February.