{"id":26288,"date":"2011-02-18T14:16:36","date_gmt":"2011-02-18T21:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=26288"},"modified":"2011-02-21T08:00:27","modified_gmt":"2011-02-21T15:00:27","slug":"bingaman-says-he%e2%80%99s-made-his-best-effort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/02\/bingaman-says-he%e2%80%99s-made-his-best-effort\/","title":{"rendered":"Bingaman says he\u2019s made his best effort"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

‘I think we have a very capable congressional delegation, and I\u2019m confident they can carry on,’ retiring senator says<\/h4>\n

Jeff Bingaman<\/a> has always been one to speak plainly, and today was no exception when he explained why he has decided to retire from the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point in any one of these jobs, you come to a point where you think you\u2019ve made your best effort, and it\u2019s time to move on and allow someone else to serve,\u201d the Democrat said at a news conference in Albuquerque. \u201cThat\u2019s the point I\u2019ve arrived at.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was asked more than once to elaborate, and he essentially repeated himself: He\u2019s spent 28 years making his \u201cbest effort\u201d in the U.S. Senate. He\u2019ll continue doing it for another 22 months, and then it will be time for him to find something else to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of this term, we look forward to once again living in New Mexico and pursuing other challenges,\u201d he said, adding that he and his wife will live in Santa Fe.<\/p>\n

Bingaman said he doesn\u2019t yet know what he will do when he retires, but he plans to continue working. He\u2019s currently 67.<\/p>\n

\u2018No shortage of folks interested in pursuing the job\u2019<\/h3>\n

Bingaman\u2019s retirement immediately set off a race to replace him. NMPolitics.net has learned that those who are considering running for the seat include, on the Democratic side, U.S. Reps.\u00a0Martin Heinrich<\/a> and\u00a0Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n<\/a> and former Lt. Gov.\u00a0Diane Denish<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the Republican side they include U.S. Rep.\u00a0Steve Pearce<\/a> and former U.S. Rep.\u00a0Heather Wilson<\/a>. In addition, two less-known Republicans have\u00a0already entered the race<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bingaman told reporters he\u2019s confident the seat will remain in Democratic hands, and he will work to ensure that happens, but he wouldn\u2019t go further in talking about who he thinks is ready to replace him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a decision for me to make. That\u2019s a decision for the people of the state to make,\u201d Bingaman said. \u201cI think there will probably be no shortage of folks interested in pursuing the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018A very capable congressional delegation\u2019<\/h3>\n

Bingaman, the state\u2019s senior senator, had kind words for U.S. Sen. Tom Udall<\/a>, D-N.M., and the rest of the delegation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have a very capable congressional delegation, and I\u2019m confident they can carry on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Udall called Bingaman \u201cone of the most thoughtful and serious legislators\u201d in a prepared statement, and said, \u201cWe owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for his outstanding public service.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJeff has never been one to promote himself, but his accomplishments are too great to list,\u201d Udall said. \u201cHe has been a national leader in pushing for a 21st\u00a0Century energy policy; he is an expert in the health care arena; and he is a champion in the effort to protect our environment and conserve our special public places in New Mexico and across the country for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s still a lot to be done\u2019<\/h3>\n

Udall is right about Bingaman not being one to promote himself. Asked to list accomplishments about which he\u2019s most proud during today\u2019s news conference, Bingaman said he\u2019s \u201cvery proud\u201d of his accomplishments but essentially deflected the question.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t tallied up what the various achievements are,\u201d Bingaman said. \u201cI think we\u2019ve done some good in a variety of areas and I think we have some more opportunity to do good this year and next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bingaman said it\u2019s been a \u201cgreat honor\u201d to serve in the Senate, and said his decision to retire was \u201cobviously not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot still to be done,\u201d he said, mentioning legislation related to energy, education and the economy. \u201cBut that will undoubtedly be true at the end of every future Congress as well. \u2026 There\u2019s no ideal time to leave the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeff Bingaman has always been one to speak plainly, and today was no exception when he explained why he has decided to retire from the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[156,116],"class_list":["post-26288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2012-election","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}