PRESS RELEASE
from Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
ed. note: first elected Nov. 1982.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Bingaman Announces He
Will Not Seek Another Term
Senator Will
Retire At the End of the 112th Congress
ALBUQUERQUE – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, a five-term incumbent, today
announced that he will not seek re-election in 2012. You can listen to
Bingaman deliver his remarks, or follow the prepared text below:
Today I am announcing that I will not run next year for election for a
sixth term in the United States Senate.
Representing the people of New Mexico in the Senate is a great honor,
and a great responsibility which I have enjoyed for over 28 years.
At the end of this Congress, I will have been in public service for
thirty-four years—four as New Mexico's Attorney General, and thirty in
the United States Senate.
The end of this Congress is the right time for me to step aside and
allow someone else to serve.
It is not easy to get elected to the Senate, and it is not easy to
decide to leave the Senate.
There is important work that remains to be done. That is true today,
and it will be the case at the end of this Congress. It will be true at
the end of every future Congress as well. The simple truth is, there is
no ideal time to step aside.
I am proud of my service in the Senate, and the work of my staff in New
Mexico and Washington who have shared in the trust given by the people
of New Mexico. My family, and that fine staff, have made my service
possible. We will continue to serve the people of New Mexico through
the remainder of this Congress which has just begun.
When I started in the Senate in 1983, and Anne, John and I moved to
Washington, we never considered it a permanent move. We have always
considered New Mexico our home, and have cherished the time we have
been able to spend here over the last three decades. At the end of this
term, we will come home to New Mexico to live, and to pursue other
challenges.