Dianne Feinstein

U.S. Sen. Barbara MikulskiSpeculation that Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Baltimore) may retire following the end of her current term in January 2011 is not true, according to Melissa Schwartz, the senator’s communications director.

“Senator Mikulski has been clear in numerous reports that she’s not shy and not retiring,” Schwartz said in an e-mail to PolitickerMD.com.

The statement would seem to indicate that Mikulski will run for re-election in 2010, but Schwartz said the senator “has not formally declared” her intention.

Mikulski, currently in the fourth year of her term, is the senior female in the Senate, having served since 1987. She has nearly six years of seniority on her nearest female colleague, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who began serving on Nov. 10, 1992, following a special election victory.