WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who recently stepped down from the leadership position, said on Thursday that he won't seek reelection next year, ending a decades-long tenure in the upper chamber.
"Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate," McConnell said. " I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last."
A Senate term in the United States lasts for six years, and McConnell's current term will expire in January 2027.
McConnell, 83, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984. He began serving as GOP leader since 2007, and is the longest-serving leader in the Senate history.
"So often, I've watched colleagues depart venting their frustration at the confines of the institution or mourning what they perceive to be declines of its norms," McConnell said.
"Regardless of the political storms that may wash over this chamber, during the time I have remaining, I assure our colleagues that I will depart with great hope for the endurance of the Senate as an institution," he added.
McConnell is seen by fellow lawmakers as a skilled strategist in politics and one of the most powerful figures in Washington. However, McConnell's once significant sway over the Senate GOP has waned in recent years as the party increasingly aligns itself with President Donald Trump, who maintains a notably strained relationship with the former Republican leader.
McConnell announced in February 2024 that he would step down from the leadership position at the end of the year.
In November 2024, the Republican Party flipped four seats from the Democratic Party in the Senate, winning back the majority in the upper chamber.
U.S. Senate Republicans then elected John Thune, a senator from South Dakota and former Republican whip, to succeed McConnell as the next majority leader in the upper chamber. ■
