Unalaska, AK – After 16 months in office, Rocky Caldero is stepping down from the Unalaska City Council.

Caldero announced his decision today, and will be formally notifying the mayor and council on Thursday. He said he's vacating his seat because one way or another, his plans require him to move away from Unalaska. He's leaving his job as the operations manager at UniSea's Unalaska plant, where he has worked for 15 years, in order to take a job at Sea Bear, a small seafood company in Anacortes, Wash.

But Caldero is also running for Senate in Alaska as a Democratic challenger to longtime incumbent Ted Stevens. He can't do that if he moves out of state, and he said he is still considering the possibility of relocating to a less remote part of Alaska to campaign full time.

"Right now I've just parked the Senate campaign [while I] get my family moved," he said. "Then I'm going to take a real hard look at the Senate campaign, and decide whether or not I'm going to make that final leap, move to Anchorage and campaign 24-7."

Caldero said he'll make that decision in December. According to his October campaign finance reports, he's raised about $31,000 so far, and has spent only about $5,000, mostly on basic campaign operating expenses. Although those numbers are a far cry from the $1 million in Stevens's war chest, they're within striking distance of what the Democratic candidates in the race for Republican incumbent Don Young's House seat have raised so far. On the Senate side, the state Democratic Party's favored candidates, Ethan Berkowitz and Mark Begich, have yet to enter the race.

Virtually all of Caldero's money has come from individual donations. He said that he'll give those donors the opportunity to decide what happens to the remaining funds if he bows out of the race.

"I'm going to reimburse their money, should they wish [me] to do so," he said. "If not, I'd like to keep the money, and at a later time pursue another public office, whether it be at a state or federal level."

Caldero says he expects the council to approve his decision to vacate his seat at its next meeting, on November 13. He joined the council in June 2006, when he was appointed to finish Greg Hanson's term, and was elected to the seat the following October.