DENVER -- Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat who played a key role in his party's resurgence across the West, abruptly ended his bid for a second term Wednesday, telling stunned supporters that in prioritizing politics, he had shortchanged his family and needed to make amends.
View Full Image Associated Press Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter said he needed to spend more time with his family.
Mr. Ritter, 53 years old, was expected to have a tough re-election fight. A Rasmussen Reports poll last month showed him trailing the Republican front-runner, former congressman Scott McInnis, by eight percentage points.
But Mr. Ritter had been raising money at a steady clip and insisted Wednesday that the November election was "absolutely winnable." His decision, he said, came after deep "soul-searching" and reflected nothing more than his desire to be a better husband to his wife, Jeannie, and a better father to their four children.
"Quite frankly, they need me," he said. "I haven't made them the priority they deserve."
While Mr. Ritter called his decision "intensely personal," some analysts saw it as an indication that the Democratic Party is faltering, especially in the West -- a region crucial to the party's success in 2008 and one that party strategists saw as a counterweight to the Republican stronghold in the South.
"This is a very ominous sign for Western Democrats," said Floyd Ciruli, a pollster based in Denver. "While Ritter made a number of political mistakes, his problem really has been the collapse of the Democratic brand."
Still, the Denver mayor, John Hickenlooper, is believed to be considering jumping into the race on the Democratic side, an indication that at least some in the party see the weak poll numbers as more associated with Mr. Ritter than a larger problem for the Democrats. Mr. Hickenlooper's staff declined to comment.
Party strategists liked to hold up Mr. Ritter, who often wore cowboy boots with his pinstriped suits, as the type of authentically rooted candidate who could deliver the West for Democrats. He grew up poor on a farm with 11 siblings and began working construction full time at age 14.
A Catholic who opposes abortion except in rare instances, Mr. Ritter won the governor's race in 2006 by a 15-point margin.
In the summer of 2008, with Democrats fixated on the West as the key to their national fortunes, Denver hosted the party's nominating convention. That fall, the governor helped deliver Colorado's electoral votes to Barack Obama. Democrats boasted that they had turned a classic swing state deep blue.
A year later, it was clear the celebration had been premature. The state's junior senator, Democrat Michael Bennet, is also well behind in polls and struggling to gain traction with unaffiliated voters.
Ken Bickers, a political scientist at the University of Colorado, said Mr. Ritter's decision -- even if it was purely personal -- indicates the Democrats' Western strategy has faltered.
Yet some political analysts in Colorado said they wouldn't write off the Democrats. Mr. Ritter had the advantage of incumbency, but he had angered key Democratic constituencies, including labor unions and Latino voters. He also made several unpopular moves, such as raising fees, eliminating tax breaks and cutting public-school funding.
By stepping aside, Mr. Ritter opens the race to Democrats who won't have the baggage that comes with balancing state budgets. One potential candidate is former Sen. Ken Salazar, now U.S. secretary of the interior, who has statewide name recognition, rural roots and strong support among Latinos. Mr. Salazar declined to comment on his plans.
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Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A6
Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Bill Ritter (D-CO)

With this year's November midterm elections fast approaching, three prominent United States Democrats announced their plans for retirement from public service on Wednesday. 

Powerful and influential—yet controversial for his alleged close ties to the financial sector and his handling of last year's bailout—Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut announced that he would not be seeking a sixth term this year. 

In a speech to his supporters in East Haddam, Connecticut, the sixty-five-year-old senior senator—with his family at his side—said, "I have been a Connecticut senator for thirty years. I'm very proud of the job I've done and the results delivered. But none of us is irreplaceable. None of us is indispensable."

He then went on to say, "Over the past twelve months, I've managed four major pieces of legislation through the United States Congress, served as chair and acting chair of two major Senate committees, placing me at the center of the two most important issues of our time—health care and reform of financial services." 

In addition to highlighting some personal travails, Dodd alluded to his precarious political situation, "I lost a beloved sister in July, and in August, Ted Kennedy. I battled cancer over the summer, and in the midst of all of this, found myself in the toughest political shape of my career." 

Despite this, Dodd adamantly maintained that none of the above reasons were the causes for his retirement. He said that his reasons were more "personal," and that his retirement would hopefully give him a much-wanted opportunity to spend more time with his family.

Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota announced that he would not run for re-election this year either. 

"Although I still have a passion for public service and enjoy my work in the Senate, I have other interests and I have other things I would like to pursue outside of public life," said the sixty-seven-year-old, three-term senator who said he came to this decision after discussing his future with his immediate family over Christmas.

Governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter announced that he too would not seek a second term. The fifty-three-year-old freshman governor said that although he felt his race was "absolutely winnable," after some deep "soul searching," he realized that he truly wanted to retire from politics nonetheless. This due to the fact that he felt his main priority should be to be a better husband to his wife as well as a better father to their four children. 

When asked to comment on Senator Dodd's retirement on behalf of the Administration, Vice President Joseph Biden said Dodd would "be long recognized as one of the most significant senators of my generation." 

He furthermore stated, "I believe the nation will miss his wisdom, wit and compassion. I count myself lucky because I know he's not going too far and will always be a source of advice and counsel." 

Biden gave similar comments and expressed like sentiments about the retirement of his other two Democratic colleagues as well.