Longtime Republican Senator Announces He Won't Seek Re-Election
Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the Senate’s fourth-most-senior member and chairman of four major committees, announced Monday that he will not seek a seventh term in office in 2022.
A titan of Alabama politics, the 86-year-old Republican has spent more than 40 years in Washington, serving first in the House and then the Senate.
His stepping down will leave a power void for the region and will set off a free-for-all GOP primary for the seat.
“For everything, there is a season,” Shelby said. “I am grateful to the people of Alabama who have put their trust in me for more than forty years. I have been fortunate to serve in the U.S. Senate longer than any other Alabamian.”
Today I announce that I will not seek a seventh term in the Senate in 2022. For everything, there is a season. I am grateful to the people of Alabama who have put their trust in me for more than forty years. https://t.co/UXNJyc3OPC
— Richard Shelby (@SenShelby) February 8, 2021
Shelby stressed that he will finish the two years remaining in his current term.
“I have the vision and the energy to give it my all,” he said.
Although I plan to retire, I am not leaving today. I have two good years remaining to continue my work in Washington. I have the vision and the energy to give it my all. I look forward to what is to come for our great state and our great nation. https://t.co/UXNJyc3OPC
— Richard Shelby (@SenShelby) February 8, 2021
The senator was first elected as a conservative Democrat during the party’s waning days of power in the Deep South. In the House of Representatives, he belonged to a caucus of southern conservatives known as the boll weevils.
Shelby was elected to the Senate in 1986 but switched to the GOP in 1994.
He has spent the past two years as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee before Democrats gained control of the chamber.
All along, he has used his influence to benefit the state’s interests, particularly ports and military manufacturers. Shelby played a key role in bringing an FBI campus and the newly announced Space Command to Huntsville.
“Few people have had a more consequential impact on our state than Senator Richard Shelby,” said Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who added, “The people of Alabama owe him a debt of gratitude.”
Shelby served in the Senate longer than any Alabamian. During his time in the chamber, he chaired four major committees: appropriations, rules, banking and intelligence.
“Serving in the U.S. Senate has been the opportunity of a lifetime,” the senator said in his statement.
“I have done my best to address challenges and find ways to improve the day-to-day lives of all Americans,” he said. “I have also focused on the economic challenges of Alabamians, increasing access to education and promoting facilities to improve the quality of schools.”
[jwplayer DxMSNrIK]
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
