Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) announces retirement

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Virginia Senator Jim Webb says not running again

2011/02/09 14:25 ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Virginia Democratic Senator Jim Webb said on Wednesday he will not run for re-election in 2012, hurting chances that Democrats will hold the seat in the state that has taken a Republican turn.

The announcement also dashes prospects for a high-profile rematch between Webb and former Republican Senator George Allen, who is making a bid to regain the seat he lost partly because of a racially-insensitive comment he made at a campaign event.

Webb won an upset victory in 2006 against Allen, who had been considered a possible contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 until he was criticized for calling a young Democratic operative "macaca," which was seen as a disparaging term.

Considered a moderate Democrat, Webb, a former Navy secretary and ex-Republican, had a high profile on foreign relations and national security issues.

"I have decided to return to the private sector, where I have spent most of my professional life," he said in a statement. But he added that he had "every intention of remaining involved in the issues that affect the well-being and the future of our country."

Democrat Barack Obama carried Virginia in the 2008 when he went on to win the presidential election, but two years later Republicans easily swept three statewide offices on the ballot -- governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Republicans made gains nationwide in the 2010 congressional elections, taking control of the House of Representatives and giving Democrats a slimmer majority in the Senate.