Independent Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont will announce at a 1:00 pm (EDT) press conference that he will retire from the Senate at the end of 2006. Jeffords, who was elected to the Senate as a Republican, became an independent in May of 2001 and caucuses with Democrats. His party switch threw control of the chamber to Democrats.
Jeffords’s announcement creates the first open Senate seat in Vermont since the incumbent won an open seat in 1988. Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry scored a 20-point win over President George W. Bush in 2004, 59 percent to 39 percent. In 2000, former Vice President Al Gore beat Bush by 10 points, 51 percent to 41 percent, while Green Party nominee Ralph Nader took 7 percent.
At this early stage, Gov. Jim Douglas is considered the most formidable candidate on the Republican side, while on the Democratic side, At-Large Rep. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, is almost certain to run. Democratic National Committee Chairman and former Gov. Howard Dean may come under pressure from Democrats in the
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