WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., has decided against jumping back into the Tennessee Senate race and will follow through on plans to retire at the end of his current term.
Corker's chief of staff Todd Womack announced the decision on Tuesday, noting that people across the state and in the Senate had encouraged the Tennessee Senator to reconsider retirement.
'Based on the outpouring of support, we spent the last few days doing our due diligence and a clear path for re-election was laid out,' Womack said.
He added, 'However, at the end of the day, the senator believes he made the right decision in September and will be leaving the Senate when his term expires at the end of 2018.'
Womack said Corker never planned to serve more than two terms in the Senate and noted the Senator has always been drawn to the citizen legislator model.
If Corker had decided to seek re-election, the move would likely have resulted in a tough primary fight against Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
Some establishment Republicans still urged Corker to reconsider amid concerns Blackburn could lose the seat to Democrat Phil Bredesen, a former two-term governor.
In a statement, Blackburn thanked Corker for his service and called for the Republican Party to unify to defeat Bredesen in November.
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