The Kansas City Star says that six-term incumbent Dennis Moore will not seek re-election.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, a Democrat who confounded the GOP by winning six consecutive elections in a heavily Republican district, will not seek re-election next year, key Democrats said Sunday.

Moore, who represented Johnson, Wyandotte and a portion of Douglas counties, will issue a statement today explaining his decision and outlining his plans. Moore, 64, is expected to finish out his term, which ends in January 2011.

Moore was a Blue Dog, but he voted for both the stimulus package and health care reform this year.

Chuck Todd is giddy with excitement over this, but I will agree that it’s notable for this reason – Moore is actually the first Democratic member of Congress who is retiring for a reason other than seeking higher office. All of the others – from Joe Sestak to Artur Davis to Charlie Melancon to Paul Hodes – are leaving their seat to run for something else. Moore is just retiring. And while the 2010 cycle is still way behind 2008 – at this point then, 14 members of Congress had announced their retirement – if this starts a trend, Democrats do have something to worry about.

As for Democratic chances at retaining the seat, Eric Kleefeld notes that the district, KS-03, actually went for Obama in 2008, but the Democratic votes come in large part from the college town of Lawrence, made up of just the kind of drop-off voters that may not turn out in a midterm in the same numbers.