Sen. Richard Shelby won’t run for reelection next year, announcing his long-expected retirement on Monday that caps a six-term tenure that included leadership of the Senate’s Intelligence, Banking and Appropriations committees.
Shelby, 86, was first elected in 1986 as a Democrat; he switched parties to become a Republican immediately following the GOP’s sweep in the 1994 midterm elections.
The powerful Alabamian’s retirement will open a Senate seat in a safely Republican state where now-GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville just ousted a Democratic incumbent, Doug Jones, by more than 20 percentage points last November.
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