Barely 10 weeks into the new Congress, Sen. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire on Monday became the second prominent Republican conservative to announce he is quitting the Senate when his term ends next year.
Humphrey`s surprise statement in Concord, N.H., came in the wake of a decision by Sen. William Armstrong (R., Colo.) not to seek a third term either.
Both senators are relatively young-Humphrey is 48, Armstrong 51-and both said they were making early announcements to allow others an opportunity to launch their campaigns and begin fund-raising.
Among those considered front-runners for Humphrey`s seat is White House chief of staff John Sununu, a former New Hampshire governor.
Conservative fund-raiser Richard Viguerie said the loss of Humphrey and Armstrong is ”a significant blow to the conservative cause; there`s no minimizing it. These weren`t just two conservative votes. They were two conservative leaders.”
Viguerie linked the departure of Humphrey and Armstrong to growing disenchantment in conservative ranks toward the Bush administration.
”They do not see a lot of need for their services. There`s no great vision of mountains to be climbed,” he said.
Humphrey said he`s leaving the Senate because he promised during his 1978 campaign he wouldn`t serve more than two terms.
”Serving in Congress should not be a career,” he said. ”We would be much better off if we returned to the concept of a citizen legislature, where serving in Congress is a temporary interruption in one`s private life.”
Democratic strategists said the loss of Humphrey and Armstrong would dash any GOP hopes of regaining control of the Senate in the 1990 elections.
”The math is against them,” said Anita Dunn, spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
She noted that there now are 16 Democrats and 18 Republicans up for reelection. The GOP would have to hold its own while capturing at least five Democratic seats in order to wrest control of the Senate, with Vice President Quayle casting the tie-breeaking GOP vote.
