Senator Chris Dodd Announces Retirement From Senate, Will Finish Term

Veteran Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., today announced that he will not seek another term and will retire from his long career in the United States Senate.

“After 35 years of representing the people of Connecticut in the United States Congress, I will not be a candidate for reelection this November,” Dodd said at a press conference outside his Connecticut home today. “In the long sweep of American history there are moments for each elected public official to step aside and let someone else step up. This is my moment to step aside.”

Dodd faced a 40 percent job approval and his chance at reelection was written off by many Democrats. He was widely viewed as the most vulnerable statewide Democratic incumbent in the country and some say that by removing himself from the equation, he will provide a good opportunity for Democrats to hang onto that Senate seat.

But today, the longtime senator pushed back against speculation about his viability as a candidate and staunchly defended his public service record, calling any predictions about an election defeat or victory “absurd.”

“I have never wavered in my determination to the best job — to do the best job for our state and our nation,” Dodd told reporters. “I’m very proud of the job I’ve done and the results delivered. But none of us is irreplaceable. None of us are indispensable, and those who think otherwise are dangerous.”

Dodd has spent much of the last year at the center of high-profile issues, including the ongoing health care overhaul and financial regulatory reform.

Today, he acknowledged the challenges of dealing with those highly partisan issues and the impact of his battle with cancer, as well as the deaths of his sister and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Dodd bluntly said that unlike many of his colleagues, who cite family as the reason for their retirement, he was not one of them.

“Strange as it may sound, I’m not confident that I would be standing here today making this announcement if these situations had not occurred,” said Dodd, describing how he thought about his decision while standing at Kennedy’s grave site on Christmas Eve.”Together these challenges have given me pause to take stock and to ask questions that too few of us in elected public life ever do: Why am I running?”

Dodd reminded people today that although he will not seek reelection, he still has another year to complete in the Senate. ABC News has learned that Dodd intends to stay on as chairman of the committee until the end of his term. After he leaves, the senator next in line to replace him as head of the panel is Tim Johnson of South Dakota, who suffered a stroke in 2006.

The state’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is the top choice among Democrats to replace Dodd.

Dodd’s announcement comes on the heels of Sen. Byron Dorgan’s, D-N.D., surprise decision to retire instead of seeking reelection this year. Democrats also lost two embattled gubernatorial candidates in Colorado and Michigan yesterday.

Between Dodd and Dorgan — whose decision not to seek reelection was less expected and far worse for Democrats — Republicans are gearing up for a competitive mid-term election. Many are confident that between the House, Senate and key gubernatorial races, they will be able to surpass Democrats.

“I think we’re going to take back the House this year,” the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Pete King of New York, said on “Good Morning America” today.