Despite rumors to the contrary, Trent Lott has announced that he is seeking re-election for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate.
Sen. Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record) announced Tuesday he is running for a fourth term this year, ending months of speculation about his plans. The 64-year-old Republican told a hometown crowd that he wants to continue working on federal issues related to Mississippi’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina. He lost his own beachside house to Katrina on Aug. 29.
The former Senate majority leader also has hinted that he might seek another leadership position in Washington. He lost his position in December 2002 after saying at Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party that the country “wouldn’t have had all these problems over the years” if it had elected Thurmond president in 1948. Thurmond was a strong segregationist at the time. Lott was first elected to the U.S. House in 1972 and to the Senate in 1988. He won the 2000 election with 66 percent of the vote.
The loss of his home to Katrina could have influenced him either way. No one could have blamed him had he quit the Senate so that he could make much more money on the outside. Apparently, it convinced him that Mississippi needed him more than ever.
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