Senate Democrat Says He Won’t Seek 5th Term

Assistant Senate Minority Leader Wendell H. Ford (D-Ky.), a crusty congressional insider whose causes have ranged from defending tobacco to promoting easier voter registration rules, announced Monday he will not seek a fifth term next year.

Ford, 72, is the second veteran Democratic senator to decide against running again, raising Republicans’ hopes of expanding on gains they made in the last two elections. Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) announced last month he will retire after four terms.

In an emotional statement to supporters and family members gathered at the state capitol in Frankfurt, Ky., where Ford served as governor in the early 1970s, he was typically blunt as his 32-year political career draws to a close.

Noting that the average cost of a Senate race rose from less than $450,000 to $4.5 million since he was elected to the Senate in 1974, Ford said “the job of being a U.S. senator today has unfortunately become a job of raising money to be reelected instead of a job [of] doing the people’s business.”