Republican Sen. Jim DeMint is not one of the Democrats’ top priority targets for the 2010 campaign, if only because his home state of South Carolina leans so strongly Republican. And the challenging party’s chances of ousting DeMint grew still slimmer after state Sen. C. Bradley Hutto, a leading prospective opponent, ruled out a challenge to the first-term incumbent.

The New York Times reported Sunday that Hutto would not run, quoting Phil Bailey, political director of the state Senate Democratic caucus. And a legal aide at Williams & Williams, the law firm in Orangeburg where Hutto practices, confirmed to CQ Politics on Monday that he had decided against the race.

Hutto is the second Democrat to take a pass on a challenge to DeMint, after Joe Erwin — an advertising executive and former state Democratic party chairman — ruled out a run in April.