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Democratic Senator Kent Conrad to retire in 2012

North Dakota Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad announced Tuesday that he will retire from the Senate when his current term expires in 2012.

“After months of consideration, I have decided not to seek reelection in 2012,” Conrad said in a written statement. “There are serious challenges facing our State and nation, like a $14 trillion debt and America’s dependence on foreign oil. It is more important I spend my time and energy trying to solve these problems than to be distracted by a campaign for reelection.”

Conrad, 62, was first elected to the Senate in 1986 and was re-elected by wide margins in 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2006. Sources close to Conrad told Fox News that the senator had been weighing his decision for several months.

“Although I will not seek reelection, the work is not done. I will continue to do my level best for both North Dakota and the nation over the final two years of my term,” Conrad said.

In the statement the senior senator from the Peace Garden State said that he would spend the next two years focusing on reducing America’s dependence on foreign energy, writing a new farm bill, and getting the country on a solid fiscal course.

Other than the release of a written statement, Conrad had no plans to formally address the media, a spokesman told NewsCore.

According to his official Senate biography, Conrad — who is currently chairman of the Senate Budget Committee — “helped write the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills, wrote health care policy that ensured continued access to hospitals in rural areas, and fought unfair trade practices that hurt North Dakota’s economy.”

Conrad follows Texas Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison as the second senator to announce plans to retire in the past week.

Conrad’s retirement also follows that of his fellow North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan who chose not to run for re-election in 2010. The two had served together in the Senate representing North Dakota since 1992.

In his statement, Conrad thanked Dorgan and former at-large Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.), calling them “two of my best friends.”

Conrad’s seat is expected to be hotly contested. In the Senate, 22 Democrats, 10 Republicans and one independent — Joe Lieberman — are up for re-election in 2012.