WILMINGTON, Del. (WRDE/AP) — Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware says he will not seek reelection to a fifth term.
In a press conference Monday morning in Wilmington, the 76-year-old senator announced his plans to retire at the end of his term next year. His stepping down opens up a Senate seat for the 2024 election.
"After a good deal of prayer and introspection, and more than a few heart-to-heart conversations, we've decided we should run through the tape over the next 20 months and finish the important work that my staff and I have begun on a wide range of fronts, many of them begun in partnership with Democrat and Republican colleagues in the Senate and in the House," said Carper.
Carper's wife, Martha, joined him at the podium. He mentioned that clean energy, healthcare, workforce development, and prescription reform would be priorities for the remainder of his term.
Prior to serving as a U.S. Senator, Carper served as U.S. representative, Delaware Governor for two terms, and as state treasurer.
"I have lived a charmed and blessed life," he told reporters. "I have much to be deeply grateful for."
Carper said he planned to work "sixty-hour weeks" until the end of his term. As for his successor, Carper said that he hopes Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester will run for his seat. Though she has not reacted to this, she issued a statement shortly following his announcement Monday morning.
"I still remember standing on the steps of the Capitol as an intern with then-congressman Tom Carper. It was his service that helped inspire a journey I could have hardly imagined, as I would go on to serve as his staffer, cabinet member, and eventually, colleague in the United States Congress," Blunt Rochester said. "Senator Carper was always more interested in the happenings of the day in Delaware than in D.C... To me, this is Tom Carper's legacy."
