Lott Eyes Reelection, And Maybe Leader's Post

Democrats' hopes of winning this year's U.S. Senate race in Mississippi were probably slim from the start, but they got pinched even further yesterday when Sen. Trent Lott (R) announced that he will seek a fourth term.

Lott, a former majority leader who lost his Pascagoula house to Hurricane Katrina, had toyed with the idea of retiring to make more money in the private sector. But he told hometown supporters that he wants to stay in Congress, and he hinted that he may try to regain the leadership post he lost after a costly gaffe three years ago.

At a December 2002 birthday party for then-Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), Lott said the country "wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years" if Thurmond had won the presidency in 1948. Thurmond ran as a segregationist Dixiecrat that year, and Lott's praise drew rebukes from President Bush, among others, and led colleagues to dump Lott as GOP leader in favor of Sen. Bill Frist (Tenn.).

Frist plans to leave the Senate at year's end, and Lott has not conceded the top leadership post to Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (Ky.), even though McConnell is considered the favorite within the 55-member GOP caucus.

"I'm just going to take everything one step at a time," Lott, 64, said yesterday when asked if he might seek the top leadership job. "All of the future opportunities I have will depend on, you know, my ability to get reelected and who else gets reelected, and events in Washington. . . . But as you know, I've never been shy about trying to get in a position where I could do the most that I could for the people that I care about in Mississippi and America."

Unlike in the House, which faces a vigorous contest to replace former majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), the Senate's upcoming GOP leadership race has clear front-runners poised to move up the ladder barring an upset. McConnell has spent three years lining up support to succeed Frist. And the party's third-ranking leader -- Republican Conference Chairman Rick Santorum (Pa.) -- is seen as the favorite to replace McConnell as whip, with one big caveat. Santorum must survive a strong challenge this November from Democrat Robert P. Casey Jr., the Pennsylvania treasurer.

Should Santorum lose to Casey, then Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.) -- now the GOP's fourth-ranking leader -- might try to leap two spots instead of one. Lott has said he is not interested in the number two post of whip because he doesn't want to entertain the possibility of Santorum losing to Casey.

Lott's reelection prospects in Mississippi, meanwhile, appear strong. He won at least two-thirds of the vote in his past two elections, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee breathed a big sigh of relief yesterday. Chairman Elizabeth Dole (N.C.) called Lott's announcement "terrific news for Mississippi and the United States Senate."

Tough Battle Awaits Menendez

Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) will be sworn in as a senator today, but a new poll suggests he has his work cut out for him if he hopes to hang around for long.

Menendez, who was appointed by New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D) to serve out the final 10 months of Corzine's Senate term, trails state Sen. Thomas H. Kean Jr. (R), 36 percent to 25 percent, in a new survey conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Kean and Menendez are each recognized by about six in 10 New Jersey voters, and both men have received largely favorable ratings from those familiar with them.

The Republican's high name recognition is probably because of his famous last name -- he is the son of Thomas H. Kean (R), a popular former New Jersey governor and chairman of the Sept. 11 commission. Menendez, the first Hispanic to represent New Jersey in the Senate, has embarked on a series of listening tours around the state to expand his political appeal outside of his northern New Jersey political base.

Given the exorbitant cost of running for office in New Jersey -- it is part of the pricey New York City and Philadelphia media markets -- Menendez said in a recent interview that he will need to raise and spend $20 million to win the race. At the end of September, the former congressman had $4.2 million in the bank, compared with $768,000 for Kean.

The New Jersey race is a top priority for both parties. Republicans see the Garden State race as offering perhaps their best chance to knock off an incumbent in November.

Washingtonpost.com staff writer Chris Cillizza contributed to this report.