Senator Harkin will not seek re-election in 2014

[cali]

Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa said on Saturday he will not seek re-election in 2014, saying he felt that after 40 years in Congress, it will be "somebody else's turn."

Harkin, 73, is one of the most liberal senators and has focused much of his long congressional career on farm policy and legislation aiding people with disabilities.

Iowa, site of the early presidential caucuses, is considered a political swing state, putting Democrats' long-held Senate seat at risk. Republican Charles Grassley is Iowa's other U.S. senator.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/26/us-usa-politics-harkin-idUSBRE90P0F120130126

[dlwickham]

1. great

another seat that will be difficult to hold

[TroyD]

4. True

Not good planning on the DSSC's part to allow so many Democratic Senators to retire in 2014.

[femmocrat]

2. This is a great loss for our party and our country.

He has been a long-time champion for liberals.

[thucythucy]

3. Senator Harkin's work on the Americans with Disabilities Act

was enormously important in the struggle for disability rights.

Senators like him--and Ted Kennedy--come along only once or twice in a generation.

He will certainly be missed.