Evan Bayh Cites Reasons For Leaving: Partisanship, Screwed Jobs Bill (Video)

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Sen. Bayh Cites Reasons Why He Will Not Seek Re-Election This Year

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh announced Monday that he will not seek re-election this November, an unexpected decision that hands Republicans an opportunity for a pick-up in a year when Democrats are already defending several open Senate seats.

Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh announced Monday that he will not seek re-election this November, an unexpected decision that hands Republicans an opportunity for a pick-up in a year when Democrats are already defending several open Senate seats.

Bayh, calling his decision a "very difficult, deeply personal" one, said he had been discouraged by the intense partisanship on Capitol Hill and that he had no interest in running in November solely "for the sake of winning an election."

"I love working for the people of Indiana," he said. "But I do not love Congress."

"After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so in Congress has waned," he said.

The two-term senator is known as a moderate Democrat. Former GOP Sen. Dan Coats had been planning to challenge Bayh in November -- but several Democratic sources said the decision appeared to be personal, not political.

A senior Obama administration official said Bayh called President Obama Monday morning to discuss the decision and indicated the senator had been considering retirement for awhile.

"The president has had several conversations with Senator Bayh about 2010. Bayh made his final decision this weekend, and it is personal, not at all political," the official said. "He is by nature a governor -- not a senator."

Bayh is a former Indiana governor and secretary of state. One senior Democratic source told Fox News that recent polling showed Bayh way ahead of Coats, and that the retirement must have been a personal decision. Bayh's staff said the latest polling showed Bayh ahead of Coats by 20 points.

One Democratic source said Bayh did not initially tell Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about his decision Monday.



Sources told Fox News that Indiana Reps. Baron Hill and Brad Ellsworth are possible Democratic contenders to vie for Bayh's vacant seat.

The timing of the expected Bayh announcement creates a dilemma for Democrats, though, since the deadline for candidates' petitions to be submitted is Tuesday. That means Bayh's name could still be on the ballot in May's Democratic primary -- Democrats will have another opportunity to pick a candidate through a separate nominating process. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is considering whether it would be possible for a replacement to be named.

The retirement decision comes after Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., both announced their retirements in January. Democrats are trying to defend open seats in Delaware and Illinois as well.

Republican incumbents are abandoning seats in Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire and Ohio. More Senate Democratic incumbents are considered vulnerable, however.

Signs of Bayh's discontent with the direction of the economy and with Washington could be seen in his votes over the past year.

He was one of only two Democrats two vote against the president's budget last year. Earlier this year, Bayh voted against his party when Reid tried to bring up a 10-year, $245 billion measure designed to stop massive cuts in federal reimbursements paid to Medicare doctors. And though he voted for the $787 billion stimulus bill, he was part of a group that axed $100 million from the original product produced by leadership -- what Bayh at the time called "silly stuff."

During healthcare negotiations, Bayh made it clear he did not trust that the bill would really hold down deficit spending. He worked with other conservative members to craft a package designed to rein in future costs. Bayh was also known to oppose the so-called "cap and trade" climate legislation proposed by the Obama administration.

Indiana Republican Party Chairman Murray Clark called the retirement a "game changer."

He told Fox News Radio the announcement comes as a surprise -- and said that while Democrats are "vulnerable," he considered Bayh to be "formidable" in November.

"Our field is pretty well established but theirs obviously has been thrown into disarray to say the least," Clark said.


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