Obama's Senate replacement won't seek another term

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roland Burris, appointed by Illinois' since-ousted governor to fill President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat, has decided not to run for a full six-year term in 2010, a Democratic Party aide said on Thursday.

The senator's office declined comment other than to say Burris planned to hold a news conference and issue a statement on Friday.

Burris's decision was based on his inability to raise campaign funds, the Chicago Sun-Times said in first reporting the latest twist in his brief Senate career.

The Sun-Times said campaign disclosures with the Federal Election Commission are expected to be filed next week and Burris has reportedly only raised about $20,000. The cost of a Senate race routinely runs into the millions of dollars.

Some of Burris' fellow Democrats had urged him not to run next year, figuring he would not win. But he had earlier resisted such calls.

Last month, an Illinois prosecutor investigating the appointment of Burris said there was insufficient evidence to charge Burris with perjury.

Some of Burris' answers to questions posed by an Illinois legislative committee in January were vague, but he did not lie about his discussions with then-Governor Rod Blagojevich's aides concerning his Senate appointment, said Sangamon County Prosecutor John Schmidt.

Blagojevich, who was impeached and ousted from office by state legislators, was indicted in April on corruption charges, including charges that he tried to sell the Senate seat. He has pleaded not guilty and awaiting trial.

Burris has insisted he did not offer Blagojevich anything in exchange for the seat that Obama held before being elected president last November. Burris was sworn in as a senator in January.

(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro; editing by Philip Barbara)