Burris Says Fundraising is Reason He Won't Run

In Chicago Friday, Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) announced that he will not seek election to the Senate when his term expires in 2010. He was appointed by ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill the vacancy created when then-Sen. Barack Obama was elected president.

Burris was interrupted several times by applause from the friendly crowd that came for his announcement. Here's a portion of his statement:

"Life is about choices. Make no mistake: I love serving in the United States Senate. Make no mistake about that. I love serving the people of Illinois. Make no mistake about that. I am the only African-American serving in the Senate and I believe that representing all segments of society is essential to who we are as a nation. We must have diversity.

"The reality of being in the United States Senate today requires not only a significant time commitment to performing the job, but an almost equal commitment to raising funds to run competitively for the office. Political races have become far too expensive in this country.

"In making this decision, I was called to choose between spending my time raising funds or spending my time raising issues for my state. I believe that the business of the people of the state of Illinois should always come first.

"And so today I have returned to the place where my political journey began in 1978. Back to the south side of Chicago. Back to my community and my constituency to announce, my friends, that I will not be a candidate in the 2010 election."

As of Thursday, Burris had raised about $1,000 for the Senate race, which is expected to cost candidates several million dollars to run competitively.