In Heated Race, Minn. Senator Says He Has MS

Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), who is running for reelection this year in a tight race that could tip control of the Senate, disclosed Sunday that he has a mild form of multiple sclerosis but pledged to continue his bid for a third term.

“Nothing’s changed at all,” Wellstone told reporters at his home in St. Paul, Minn. “I’m ready to go.”

Wellstone said he was diagnosed about a month ago with the chronic, sometimes disabling disease of the nervous system. It affects his lower right leg.

The 57-year-old senator, a wrestling champion in college, also has had bouts of back pain stemming from herniated spinal discs. At the Capitol in recent years, Wellstone frequently could be seen walking with a pronounced limp.

Wellstone said he announced his illness in the interest of full public disclosure. “I don’t want to be dishonest with anyone,” he said. “I can no longer say it was a wrestling injury because it is not.”

Doctors have told Wellstone he will not need medication and can campaign without interruption.

One of the most liberal Democrats in the Senate, Wellstone faces a strong challenge this year from a Republican recruited by the White House, former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman. Recent polls have shown the two running a close race.

Responding to the announcement, Coleman said in a written statement only that his “thoughts and prayers” were with Wellstone and his family.

The Wellstone-Coleman race is one of the nation’s most closely watched, one of a cluster of tight races in the Midwest and upper Plains states. Analysts judge the Minnesota race a tossup, which makes it a critical battleground.

Democrats control the Senate by the slimmest of margins, 50 to 49, with one independent, Sen. James M. Jeffords of Vermont. With 34 seats at stake in November, a net turnover of just one could flip control back to the Republicans.

Wellstone was first elected to the Senate in 1990 and promised to serve just two terms. But last year he decided to break that pledge because he said he was not done fighting for liberal causes.

Wellstone’s doctor, J.D. Bartleson of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., appeared with him at Sunday’s news conference. Bartleson said the senator probably has had the disease for 15 years. The condition is not life-threatening, Bartleson said.

Wellstone said he looked forward to the campaign. “For me,” he said, “no stress would be stress.”

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Associated Press contributed to this report.