Longtime GOP Senator Richard Shelby to retire
Washington — Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama will not seek reelection in 2022, he announced Monday, ending a career in the upper chamber that has spanned more than three decades.
"Today I announce that I will not seek a seventh term in the United States Senate in 2022," Shelby, 86, said in a statement. "For everything, there is a season."
First elected to the Senate in 1986, Shelby has helmed four committees across his tenure, most recently occupying the top position on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Shelby said in his time chairing the Appropriations, Rules, Banking and Intelligence panels, he "strived to influence legislation that will have a lasting impact."
"Although I plan to retire, I am not leaving today," he said. "I have two good years remaining to continue my work in Washington. I have the vision and the energy to give it my all."
Shelby is the fourth Republican senator to announce retirement, following Senators Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio and Richard Burr of North Carolina.
The senator spent eight years in the Alabama state legislature and represented the state's 7th Congressional District in the House for four terms. He was elected to Congress as a Democrat in 1978 but switched parties in 1994, during his tenure in the Senate.
"Serving in the U.S. Senate has been the opportunity of a lifetime. I have done my best to address challenges and find ways to improve the day-to-day lives of all Americans," he said.