Dream co-owner passes up US Senate run

According to multiple Washington sources, Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler has passed up a run to be the Republican candidate for the United States Senate seat up for grabs in Georgia in 2014.  The seat will be vacated by current Georgia senator Saxby Chambliss, who is retiring.

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports that Loeffler's company, IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), wishes to merge with the New York Stock Exchange - but the merger is delayed and she felt she couldn't take on the burdens of the merger and a Senate bid.  Loeffler is vice-president of ICE.

Loeffler's Republican credentials are pretty deep.  She donated $750,000 to Restore Our Future, the super PAC created to support Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.  She co-chaired the groups Victory 2010 for the Georgia Republican Party and  Women for Romney in 2012. One of her advisers is veteran Republican strategist Heath Garrett.

Her husband Jeff Sprecher, the CEO of ICE, might run for a state office in the future.  Which begs the question:  if Loeffler commits to a political office run in the future, then what happens to the Atlanta Dream?