SENATOR FITZGERALD RESPONDS TO A QUESTION DURING A NEWS CONFERENCE IN CHICAGO, 2003-04-15 (photo)

U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL) responds to a question during a press conference at the Union Club in Chicago, April 15, 2003. Fitzgerald said on Tuesday that he will not seek re-election in 2004, tossing more uncertainty into the coming battle for the U.S. Senate that his fellow Republicans now control by a thread. The 42-year-old first termer, a wealthy businessman in private life, said he was stepping back because of the toll another election would take on his 10-year-old son and family as well as the need to spend the remaining two years of his term in virtual full-time campaigning as a Republican "in a staunchly Democratic state." REUTERS/Frank Polich FJP/GN