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Hastings poised to run if Graham declines
©Associated Press MIAMI -- U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings plans to run for the U.S. Senate in 2004 if Sen. Bob Graham decides not to seek re-election, the congressman's spokesman said Monday. Hastings, D-Miramar, would run only if Graham, also a Democrat, chooses not to pursue a fourth term. Graham is expected to make his decision by January or February. "It really is his hope that Sen. Graham stays put. He thinks he's doing a good job for the state," Hastings spokesman Fred Turner said. Hastings won his sixth term last month. He was among the first black Floridians to be elected to Congress since Reconstruction in the 1870s. Turner said Hastings wants other black people to seek higher office in Florida. "He'd like to see sometime soon that there be a black senator or governor or lieutenant governor or commissioner of agriculture," Turner said. "Change comes slowly, and his whole career has been about bringing about change." Most state Democrats want Graham, 66, to seek another term. He is considered popular and the party's standard-bearer in Florida, where Republicans now hold the governor's office and control the Legislature, the state Cabinet and nearly three-quarters of the state's congressional delegation. Graham spokesman Paul Anderson said the senator would consult with family members during the holidays before making his decision. Hastings, 66, sought the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate in 1970, finishing fourth in the primary won by Lawton Chiles. He is the only member of Congress to be impeached and removed from office as a federal judge; he won election after the Senate removed him from the bench in 1989. Since his election, he has focused on international issues, supporting the military intervention in Kosovo in 1999 and advocating election reform following the disputed 2000 election. With Gov. Jeb Bush's re-election, Republicans are beginning to eye the 2004 Senate race. Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan, U.S. Housing Secretary Mel Martinez and U.S. Rep. Mark Foley of Lake Worth are mentioned as potential candidates.
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From the Times state desk
From the state wire
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