CT Sen- Dodd will retire

Chris Dodd will retire according to Chris Cillizza;

Embattled Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (D) has scheduled a press conference at his home in Connecticut Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek re-election, according to sources familiar with his plans.

[…]

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is widely expected to step into the void filled by Dodd and, at least at first blush, should drastically increase Democrats’ chances of holding the seat.

Blumenthal, who has served as state Attorney General since 1990, is the most popular politician in the state and has long coveted a Senate seat; he had already signaled that he would run for the Democratic nomination against Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) in 2012. (A sidenote: Assuming Blumenthal gets in to the race, Rep. Chris Murphy could be the long-term beneficiary as he is widely regarded as a rising star and would be at the top of the list of Democratic hopefuls to challenge Lieberman in 2012.)

PPP tweeted earlier that the seat would be safe if Blumenthal runs. No numbers yet, but we’ll see them soon.  

BREAKING: CT-Gov: Jodi Rell to retire, open seat

Just heard on NBC here in New York, Jodi Rell has announced she will not run for reelection.

Here’s the story.

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/j…

We know Ned Lamont is running, this could be another big Dem pickup with California, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Vermont and Arizona…but Democrats have been having trouble winning Connecticut governor’s races recently, having not won one since 1986.