Big news out of the Pine Tree State this after­noon: Olympia Snowe, one of Maine’s two incum­bent Repub­li­can sen­a­tors, has announced that she has decid­ed not to seek reelec­tion in 2012, cit­ing a desire to be free of the par­ti­san ran­cor that per­vades Capi­tol Hill these days. Her deci­sion to retire could have a pro­found effect on the U.S. Sen­ate elec­toral land­scape for this cycle, giv­ing Democ­rats a much-need­ed pick­up oppor­tu­ni­ty to off­set like­ly loss­es elsewhere.

“After thir­ty-three years in the Con­gress, this was not an easy deci­sion,” Snowe said in a state­ment. “My hus­band and I are in good health. We have laid an excep­tion­al­ly strong foun­da­tion for the cam­paign, and I have no doubt I would have won re-elec­tion. It has been an inde­scrib­able hon­or and immea­sur­able priv­i­lege to serve the peo­ple of Maine, first in both hous­es of Maine’s leg­is­la­ture and lat­er in both hous­es of Con­gress. To this day, I remain deeply pas­sion­ate about pub­lic ser­vice, and I cher­ish the oppor­tu­ni­ty I have been giv­en for near­ly four decades to help improve the lives of my fel­low Mainers.”

“Unfor­tu­nate­ly, I do not real­is­ti­cal­ly expect the par­ti­san­ship of recent years in the Sen­ate to change over the short term. So at this stage of my tenure in pub­lic ser­vice, I have con­clud­ed that I am not pre­pared to com­mit myself to an addi­tion­al six years in the Sen­ate, which is what a fourth term would entail.”

Snowe’s announce­ment seemed to catch many of her fel­low Repub­li­cans off-guard, includ­ing her seat­mate, fel­low Repub­li­can Susan Collins, who called her deci­sion “a com­plete sur­prise”. The dead­line to file is just two weeks away, so prospec­tive can­di­dates from both par­ties will need to come to a deci­sion quick­ly about running.

Chel­lie Pin­gree, one of Maine’s two Demo­c­ra­t­ic U.S. Rep­re­sen­ta­tives, has already hint­ed that she is giv­ing seri­ous thought to enter­ing the race.

“I want to thank Sen­a­tor Snowe for her decades of ser­vice to the peo­ple of Maine,” Pin­gree said in a press release issued in the wake of Snowe’s announce­ment. “From her time in the House to her three terms in the Sen­ate, Sen­a­tor Snowe has shown her inde­pen­dence and ded­i­ca­tion to Maine. I called Sen­a­tor Snowe ear­li­er to wish her and her hus­band all the best in the next stage of her life.

She added: “This upcom­ing elec­tion is crit­i­cal to the future of our work­ing fam­i­lies around the coun­try, and in the com­ing days I will care­ful­ly con­sid­er how I can best serve the peo­ple of Maine.”

If Pin­gree runs, she stands a good chance of win­ning the Demo­c­ra­t­ic nom­i­na­tion, which will be decid­ed in June . She already rep­re­sents half of the state, and was one of only eight Democ­rats to receive a high­er per­cent­age of the vote in 2010 (a dif­fi­cult cycle for Democ­rats) than in 2008, when she was first elected.

In her one and a half terms in the U.S. House, she has con­sis­tent­ly worked to advance the com­mon good and strength­en Amer­i­ca’s com­mon wealth. Her cru­cial life­time score on Pro­gres­sivePunch is an impres­sive 92.29%, and she is ranked as one of the coun­try’s most pro­gres­sive rep­re­sen­ta­tives. (She is also a mem­ber of the Con­gres­sion­al Pro­gres­sive Caucus).

The Pro­gres­sive Change Cam­paign Com­mit­tee (PCCC), which helped draft Eliz­a­beth War­ren into the race against Scott Brown in Mass­a­chu­setts a few months ago, has already launched a “Draft Pin­gree” effort, which could catch fire in the com­ing days.

Ger­ald Weinand, pro­pri­etor of Diri­go Blue, Maine’s best-known pro­gres­sive blog, has a must-read piece look­ing at might hap­pen next, enti­tled The real­i­ty of run­ning for an open seat in Maine. Click on over to get his per­spec­tive and leave a com­ment if you’re so inclined. Diri­go Blue also has more reac­tion to the news of Snowe’s retire­ment.