 Ford chose not to seek a fifth term in 1998 , and retired to Owensboro . He worked for a time as a consultant to Washington lobbying and law firm Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky . At the time of his retirement , Ford was the longest @-@ serving senator in Kentucky history . In January 2009 , Mitch McConnell surpassed Ford 's mark of 24 years in the Senate . 
