Sen. Evan Bayh Announces Retirement

Updated 6:27 p.m. EST

Sen. Evan Bayh, a centrist Democrat from Indiana, announced Monday that he won't seek a third term in Congress, giving Republicans a chance to pick up a Senate seat.

Speaking to staff members and reporters in Indianapolis Monday afternoon, Bayh called the decision "very difficult, deeply personal one" but said he felt it is time for him to "contribute to society in another way," either by creating jobs with a business, leading a college or university, or running a charity.

The senator criticized the partisan atmosphere in Washington but took pains to make clear that his departure was not a reflection on his Senate colleagues or the president.

Analysis: Bayh Lost Faith in Congress

"After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so by serving in Congress has waned," Bayh said. "To put it in the words I think most people can understand: I love working for the people of Indiana, I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives, but I do not love Congress."

The departure of Bayh, who was on Barack Obama's short list of vice presidential candidate prospects in 2008, continues a recent exodus from Congress among both Democrats and Republicans, including veteran Democrats Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island.

The announcements have sprung up in rapid-fire fashion amid polls showing a rising anti-incumbent fervor and voter anger over Washington partisanship, high unemployment, federal deficits and lucrative banking industry bonuses.

Bayh said he believed he would have been re-elected this November, despite "the current challenging environment."

His retirement from a Senate seat from Republican-leaning Indiana adds to the struggle Democrats will face this fall to prevent an erosion of the 59 votes they have in the chamber.

The Washington Post and Indianapolis Star first reported on Bayh's decision Monday morning.

Bayh informed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., of his plans in a telephone conversation Monday morning, according to one Democrat.

Democrats will have to scramble to find a replacement candidate for Bayh's seat. Friday is the filing deadline for the May primary, although the party would have until June 30 to select a replacement candidate.

Bayh briefly considered running for president in 2008 but instead endorsed then Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Bayh's name was among a handful of well-known Democrats prominently mentioned as possible vice presidential candidates in both Sen. John Kerry's 2004 run for the presidency and President Barack Obama's campaign last year. He was believed to have been on Obama's final list. Obama settled on then-Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware.

Less than two weeks ago, former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, a Republican, announced that he would try to reclaim his old seat from Bayh. The move by Coats came as the GOP was still celebrating Republican Scott Brown's January upset to take Edward Kennedy's former seat in Massachusetts.

Bayh had a $13 million war chest and 20 point lead over Coats, so his retirement decision caught Democratic leaders completely off guard, reports CBS News Capitol Hill correspondent Nancy Cordes.

North Dakota's Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan also is retiring, and his party doesn't have anyone to challenge the Republican, Gov. John Hoeven. Democrats also failed to recruit their top candidate in Delaware. Biden's son, Beau Biden, eschewed a run against Republican Mike Castle.

Bayh - following Dorgan - is the party's second senator from a right-leaning state - following to announce he's leaving at the end of this term. And at least four other Democratic incumbents in the Senate - Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Harry Reid of Nevada and Michael Bennet of Colorado - face uphill battles, Cordes reports.

"Nine months ago it appeared that the Democrats were going to gain Senate seats," political analyst Stuart Rothenberg told Cordes. "Now we're talking about the Republicans gaining four, six, seven, maybe eight Senate seats."

Bayh is serving his second six-year term in the Senate, and is a centrist Democrat from a Republican-leaning state.

Bayh served two terms as Indiana's governor before winning the first of his two Senate terms in 1998. He had until recent weeks been regarded as a near certainty for re-election, having raised nearly $13 million for his campaign and facing little-known Republican opposition until national Republicans recruited Coats to enter the race.

Bayh's name was already well known when he first ran for political office in 1986, winning the race for Indiana secretary of state that year. His father, Birch, won the first of three terms in the U.S. Senate in 1962 and was an unabashed Great Society liberal.

The younger Bayh ran for governor in 1988 on a platform of fiscal responsibility, reducing what he considered to be a bloated government bureaucracy and opposing tax increases.

Bayh served two terms as Indiana's governor before winning the first of his two Senate terms in 1998.