Insurers Sorry Dodd Won't Seek Minority Leadership
By Arthur D. Postal, Washington Bureau Chief
NU Online News Service, Nov. 4, 10:29 a.m. EDT, Washington?In a disappointment for the insurance industry, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said late yesterday he would not run for Senate minority leader to replace Sen. Tom Daschle, who was defeated for re-election in South Dakota.
His decision thwarts hopes by some in the insurance community because Sen. Dodd always has been an unabashed?as well as skilled?advocate for insurers. He is a ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee.
Mr. Dodd saying he would throw his support to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the current whip, or second-in-command.
Sen. Reid is a moderate Democrat, although he is pro-life, a conservative position. The election will take place in December.
Sen. Dodd said, "A number of colleagues called and urged me to run, but I decided I could better serve my party and my state by staying out of a race that could be very harmful to our party."
Sen. Dodd is still expected to play a key role on insurance issues, the most important of which is reform of class-action litigation laws. That is expected to be one of the first issues taken up by the new, more conservative Congress next year.
Indeed, Sen. Dodd negotiated with the White House until 5 a.m. two Novembers ago in hammering out what is now the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. He also played a key role in the enactment of legislation in the 1990s designed to stop a flood of securities fraud lawsuits.
In announcing he would not challenge Sen. Reid, Sen. Dodd added he would support Sen. Reid when Democrats meet to elect Daschle's successor as Senate minority leader. The election is expected to occur in December.
Sen. Dodd Tuesday became his state's first senator to be elected for five terms.
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