Report: Sen. Harkin won’t seek another term
By Jeremy Herb – 01/26/13 10:54 AM ET
*************************************

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will retire at the end of 2014, he told the Associated Press Saturday.

Harkin’s said his decision not to seek a sixth term was based in part because he wanted to give a new generation of Iowa Democrats the chance to run for higher office.

“It’s just time to step aside,” Harkin, 73, told the AP.

Harkin’s decision to retire makes Iowa a ripe target for Republicans as they try to flip at least six seats to win back the Senate.

While Harkin was likely in for a contested race if he had run for reelection, he had $2.7 million in the bank already, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) did not rule out a 2014 Senate run in November, regardless of whether Harkin would have run.

“I have a consistent record. I think people know me,” he said, arguing his views wouldn’t be “an impediment at all.”

Ten-term Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) is the other Iowa Republican in the House. A primary between King and Latham could follow the tea party vs. establishment narrative that has played out over the past two cycles in Republican primaries.

On the Democratic side, possible candidates include Rep. Bruce Braley, who has also talked about running for governor, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and his wife Christie Vilsack, who lost to King in a 2012 run for Congress.

Harkin, who was one of the few Democrats to vote against the fiscal-cliff deal, passed on the chance to chair the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee in November. He opted instead to say at the head of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

He is the second Senate Democrat to opt to retire rather than run for another term, as Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) announced earlier this month that he would not run in 2014.

Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) also said Friday that he would retire at the end of his term.
====================================

2014 Senate Preview: Can Republicans Finally Turn Potential Into Reality?
November 29th, 2012
*******************
Before looking ahead at the Republicans’ prospects to gain the six seats they need to win control of the Senate, it is first important — though for Republicans, painful — to look back at the past two Senate cycles.(More..)

http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/2014-senate-preview-can-republicans-finally-turn-potential-into-reality/
===========================================================

Inside the 2014 Senate Races
Posted at 9:11 p.m. on Nov. 28, 2012
************************************