Trent Lott, the second-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate, on Monday announced he will retire this year, five years before his term expires and ending the conservative's 34-year career in Congress. "I am announcing today that I will be retiring from the Senate by the end of the year," Lott said in his hometown of Pascagoula, Mississippi. "Let me make it clear, there are no (health) problems. I feel fine. I may look my 66 years, but I honestly feel good."
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is expected to pick a fellow Republican to take the seat until the next congressional and presidential election in November 2008, when Barbour said he would call a special election. The conservative state's other senator, Thad Cochran, is also a Republican and is running for re-election next year. |