CUMMING, Iowa — U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin will not seek re-election in 2014, the Iowa Democrat said Saturday.

The 73-year-old Harkin told The Associated Press in an interview, “It’s just time to step aside,” noting that by the time he would finish a sixth term, he would be 81.

Harkin said the move also would allow a new generation of Democrats to seek higher office.

The announcement comes as a surprise, considering he had $2.7 million in his campaign war chest and was planning a gala fundraiser in Washington, D.C., next month.

Harkin is a leading liberal in the Senate, chairing the health, education, labor and pensions committee and having served as a key salesman of President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care bill to the wary left.

No Iowa Republicans have taken formal steps toward seeking the seat.

Harkin’s decision eases the burden on the GOP, who have to gain six seats to win the majority in the Senate. The president’s party historically loses seats in the midterm elections after his re-election. Obama, a Democrat, was re-elected last year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/a...4235_story.html

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will not seek reelection in 2014, he announced Saturday.

“It’s just time to step aside,” Harkin, 73, told the Associated Press, noting that he would be 81 by the end of another term. Multiple Democratic aides have confirmed the decision, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has issued a statement.

Harkin’s decision makes him the third senator up for reelection this cycle to announce his retirement. Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) have both announced they will not seek another term.

Harkin is in his fifth term and has become one of the most outspoken liberals in the Senate in recent years. Over the past few weeks, he was one of few on the left who resisted the “fiscal cliff” deal and had pushed for reform of the Senate’s filibuster rules. Senate leaders this week announced a filibuster package that some liberals criticized as inadequate.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post...iowa-to-retire/

Wow! It's about time Washington got rid of these old fossils!