EAST HADDAM, Conn. — Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd says he won't seek re-election to the U.S. Senate, ending a more than 40-year career in Congress.

Dodd made the announcement today at his home in East Haddam.

He had run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008.

The decision marks an abrupt turnaround. Earlier this week, Dodd said he was committed to running for a sixth term.

Dodd's political stock fell after a controversy involving low-rate mortgages he received under a VIP program, the financial meltdown and his failed 2008 presidential bid.

The 65-year-old chairman of the Senate Banking Committee was trailing former Republican Congressman Rob Simmons in the polls.

Connecticut's popular Democratic attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, is set to officially announce later today he will run for Dodd's seat.