TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Sen. Bob Graham, who dropped his bid for the Democratic nomination for president last month, has decided not to seek re-election to a fourth Senate term in 2004, a source close to Graham said Monday.
Graham, a former Florida governor, said there were other things he wanted to do, the source said. The source said Graham had pledged to help the Democratic Party keep the seat in Democratic hands.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Graham was expected to make the announcement later Monday.
Graham's decision further complicates hopes by the Democrats to regain control of the Senate, where Republicans hold a 51-48 majority, with one Democratic-leaning independent.
He is the fourth southern Democrat to announce he will not run again, joining Georgia's Zell Miller, South Carolina's Fritz Hollings, and North Carolina's John Edwards.
Graham, who turns 67 on Sunday, is considered one of the most popular politicians in Florida, where he has served in the Senate since 1987.
Five Democrats had declared for the Senate seat but vowed not to challenge Graham if sought re-election: U.S. Reps. Allen Boyd, Peter Deutsch and Alcee Hastings, Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas and former state Education Commissioner Betty Castor.
The field of Republicans seeking Graham's seat include state House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, legal activist Larry Klayman and state Sen. Dan Webster.
While the state GOP said Graham's presidential campaign might have made him vulnerable, analysts considered him a strong candidate for re-election.
In the Senate, Graham has built a reputation for a low-key, methodical approach to legislation, and served last year as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he was at the forefront of the debate over the nation's preparedness against terrorism.
Graham delayed his entry into the presidential contest to recover from major heart surgery in January. Then based much of his campaign on his vote against the military conflict in Iraq.
He accused President Bush of endangering Americans by abandoning the fight against terror to wage war in Iraq, which he said did not pose an immediate threat to the United States.
He went so far as to suggest impeachment, saying in July: "If the standard of impeachment that the Republicans set for Bill Clinton - a personal, consensual relationship was the basis for impeachment, would not a president who knowingly deceived the American people about something as important as whether to go to war meet the standard of impeachment?"
Graham handily defeated current Attorney General Charlie Crist in 1998 with 62 percent of the vote and has not faced a serious challenge since defeating Sen. Paula Hawkins in 1986.
