SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – Sen. Jim Jeffords, who single-handedly upset the balance of power on Capitol Hill four years ago when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, announced Wednesday he will retire at the end of his term next year, citing his own health problems and those of his wife.
The surprise announcement immediately triggered a scramble for Jeffords’ seat, one of several that will be up for grabs in next year’s midterm elections.
In recent months, Jeffords’ family and his staff questioned whether the 70-year-old senator was physically and mentally up to a statewide campaign for a fourth term. He stumbled in a recent radio interview, and was confused about some of his votes. His wife, Liz, is battling cancer.
“It is time to begin a new chapter, both for me personally and for the people of Vermont,” said Jeffords, who also has suffered from a bad back and neck. “There have been questions about my health, and that is a factor as well. I am feeling the aches and pains when you reach 70.”
Jeffords’ retirement will bring an end to a three-decade career in Washington. He won election to the House in 1974 as a Republican, and moved to the Senate in 1988.
In 2001, he abandoned the GOP and aligned himself with the Democrats, putting them in control of the evenly divided Senate. The switch made him a hero among Democrats and a traitor among Republicans.
The Senate Republican leader at the time, Mississippi’s Trent Lott, dubbed Jeffords’ action a “coup of one,” and described it as “the impetuous decision of one man to undermine our democracy.”
At the heart of Jeffords’ decision was a belief that the GOP in general and President Bush in particular had become too conservative and that he could not remain in a party that favored tax breaks for the wealthy over full funding of education programs for the disabled.
He complained at the time that the Republicans in control of both the White House and Congress “were set out on an agenda that did not fit into what the average American wanted to see.”
The Democrats’ control of the Senate was brief. Republicans took it back 18 months later, and added to their gains in last fall’s election. They now hold 55 seats out of 100.
Still, Jeffords has become a hero to Democrats in the four years since. He has been one of the party’s biggest fund-raisers, attracting huge crowds as he traveled the country helping to bring in millions in 2002 and 2004 for Democratic candidates.
His 2006 re-election seemed all but assured in predominantly Democratic Vermont: He had $2 million in the bank, had hired a campaign staff and had won the endorsements of state Democratic leaders, including Sen. Patrick Leahy and former Gov. Howard Dean, now chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Jeffords was said to be eager to run for re-election to show Republicans that Vermont would elect him as an independent.
The chairman of the state GOP recently sent out a national fund-raising letter that branded Jeffords a “turncoat” and called his 2001 decision “despicable.” “He betrayed President Bush and ALL Republicans,” wrote Jim Barnett. “Now it is time for payback.”
Jeffords’ spokesman Erik Smulson said the senator made the decision not to run over the weekend.
“I have had an enormously satisfying career, one that I would not have traded for any other,” Jeffords said, his wife and two adult children at his side. “In no other job do you have both the freedom and obligation to solve problems and help people on a daily basis.”
Within an hour of the announcement, Vermont’s sole congressman, independent Bernie Sanders, all but declared himself a candidate for Jeffords’ seat. Gov. James Douglas, the state’s top Republican, is another possible candidate.
Jeffords’ would become the fourth member of the Senate to step down in 2006. Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is expected to retire to seek the nomination for the White House in 2008. Democratic Sens. Mark Dayton of Minnesota and Paul Sarbanes of Maryland have announced they will not seek new terms.
“For more than 30 years, Jim has fought to do the right thing, standing against extremism,” Dean said. “His work ethic, patriotism and commitment to serving the people of Vermont have made him a model to all of us who know him and have had the honor to work with him.”
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