Sen. Bunning reportedly suggests stepping down

As he battles his own party in an
increasingly public feud over his political future, Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.)
has suggested he may resign his seat early, giving Kentucky’s governor the
chance to hand Democrats a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate.

According to a well-placed source,
Bunning told guests at a fundraiser this week in Washington that, thanks to top
Washington Republicans questioning his ability to win a third term, he may
instead simply quit his seat.

{mosads}The Kentucky senator strongly denied
making the comments. “It’s not true. I intend to fulfill my obligation to
the people of Kentucky,” Bunning said in a statement his office provided
to The Hill. “If you are going to write something like this you’d better
make your sources known because they are lying.”

In recent weeks, both Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and National Republican Senatorial
Committee (NRSC) Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) have publicly said they do not know if
Bunning intends to run for another term, though the two-term Republican has
repeatedly said he would mount a third bid.

That has caused friction between
Bunning and McConnell, who once referred to each other as best friends in the
Senate, and between Bunning and Cornyn. Both McConnell and Cornyn have
acknowledged Bunning wants to run again, and earlier this week Cornyn said the
NRSC is supporting Bunning.

But the public nature of the feud and
its many bizarre turns — earlier this week, Bunning suggested he would sue the
NRSC if it tried to back another candidate in the primary — have sapped
Bunning’s fundraising potential. As of Dec. 31, Bunning had just $150,000
in the bank, well below the amount even some retiring senators have in their
coffers.

The NRSC declined to comment for
this article.

Bunning has publicly said it will
take at least $10 million to win the race in the face of what is expected to be
a serious challenge from Bluegrass State Democrats.

Already, Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo
(D) has announced his candidacy, while state Attorney General Jack Conway (D)
and state Auditor Crit Luallen are pondering their own bids. Rep. Ben Chandler
(D-Ky.), who would be Democrats’ top choice, has not officially ruled out a
bid of his own.

Instead of facing a dry fundraising
terrain and being forced into a tough contest against a skilled opponent,
Bunning’s reported suggestion that he would simply step down has once again raised the
specter of a filibuster-proof majority for Democrats.

Were Bunning to leave early, Gov.
Steve Beshear (D) would have the opportunity to name a replacement, and he
would almost certainly pick a Democrat to fill the remaining months of
Bunning’s term. That would give Democrats 59 seats in the Senate, with
Minnesota’s contested election still to be decided as Democrat Al Franken holds
a slim lead over former Sen. Norm Coleman (R).

Bunning’s comments, made at a
fundraiser on Tuesday, were first reported by the Louisville Courier-Journal.