Albuquerque – Republican Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, one of the most influential voices in Congress on budget and energy issues, officially announced Thursday that he is retiring at the end of his sixth term because of a degenerative brain disease. His plan was made public Wednesday.
“I come here today, to the site of the school that I attended as a boy, to tell you that I will not run for re-election to the United States Senate,” Domenici said at a news conference in the Albuquerque neighborhood where he grew up.
After a medical exam last month revealed progression of an incurable brain disorder known as frontotemporal lobar degeneration, the 75-year-old senator discussed retirement with his family and concluded he might not physically be able to serve a full seventh term.
“I am not willing to take a chance that the people who have so honored me with their trust for 40 years might not be served as well as they deserve in the United States Senate,” he said.
President Bush, in a statement, praised Domenici as “a skilled and determined legislator,” citing his work on national energy policy, lowering taxes, balancing the budget and reducing government spending.
Domenici’s retirement scrambles the 2008 elections in New Mexico. Top Republicans and Democrats are considering whether to jump into what will be the first open Senate race in the state since 1972.
On Capitol Hill, Domenici is known as a deficit hawk for budget-balancing work in the 1980s and ’90s as chairman or the senior GOP member of the Senate Budget Committee. He also watched closely over New Mexico’s interests.
Among the potential contenders for Domenici’s Senate seat are Republican Reps. Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce and Democratic Rep. Tom Udall. New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez and former Attorney General Patricia Madrid are other Democrats eyeing the race.
Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson said Thursday he remains focused on his presidential bid.
“I am not running for the Senate. I’m running for president,” he said by phone.
His spokesman Tom Reynolds later said Rich ardson would continue serving as governor if he doesn’t get the nomination.
The filing deadline for the Senate seat is Feb. 12.
