Sen. Jesse Helms Leaving Senate

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 22 -- In an address to the people of North Carolina, legendary five-term conservative Sen. Jesse Helms announced tonight that he will retire from Congress at the end of his term in 2003.

"I would be 88 if I ran again in 2002 and was elected and lived to finish a sixth term," Helms told a television audience in his home state. "This my family and I have decided unanimously that I should not do. And, ladies and gentlemen, I shall not."

But the Republican added he plans to make the most of his term until it ends in January 2003.

"I am by no means announcing my retirement, because a great deal of work lies ahead of the U.S. Senate this fall and next year," he said.

Helms made the announcement tonight on WRAL-TV in Raleigh, the station where he gained recognition across the state as a political commentator before running for the Senate in 1972.

"The Senate is losing an institution," President Bush said in a statement released immediately following the announcement.

The polarizing, 79-year-old Helms, whose health problems have forced him to spend the last few years zipping around Capitol Hill in a motorized scooter, marks a changing of the guard in North Carolina politics.

Elizabeth Dole for Senate?

Faced with Helms' retirement and an open seat in a highly competitive state, speculation has turned toward former presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole.

Some Republicans are already counting on her to be a candidate and hope to clear the field for her. Other Republicans caution, however, that the always cautious and methodical Dole might shy away from a competitive race.

Dole hails from Salisbury, N.C., but has not lived in the state for decades. She has indicated "serious interest" but has not firmly committed to running for an open seat. Republicans pushing the idea of her candidacy say this is simply out of deference to Helms. And some sources tell ABCNEWS they expect Dole to announce her candidacy for the seat in the fall.

Calls placed to Dole's Washington office have not been returned. Sources say conversations are ongoing between Dole, the White House and Sen. Bill First of Tennessee, the chairman of the GOP Senate Campaign Committee.