Sen. Bob Corker Won't Seek Re-Election

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker announced Tuesday he is not seeking re-election in 2018.

The two-term Republican who chairs the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced his decision in a statement.

“After much thought, consideration and family discussion over the past year, Elizabeth and I have decided that I will leave the United States Senate when my term expires at the end of 2018.
“When I ran for the Senate in 2006, I told people that I couldn’t imagine serving for more than two terms. Understandably, as we have gained influence, that decision has become more difficult. But I have always been drawn to the citizen legislator model, and while I realize it is not for everyone, I believe with the kind of service I provide, it is the right one for me.
“I also believe the most important public service I have to offer our country could well occur over the next 15 months, and I want to be able to do that as thoughtfully and independently as I did the first 10 years and nine months of my Senate career.
“Serving the people of Tennessee in this capacity has been the greatest privilege of my life. And as I spent the month of August traveling across our great state, I was reminded that we live in a unique place full of people who care deeply about the direction of our country.”

When Corker was elected in a tight race over Democrat Harold Ford, Jr. in 2006, he said he did not intend to serve more than two terms, a promise that, ultimately, he kept.

His allusion to serving his last 15 months "thoughtfully and independently" is interesting after an unusual public spat with President Donald Trump last month. Corker, who had been regarded as an ally of the president's, questioned Trump's competency during a speech in his native Chattanooga and stood behind those words at an appearance the next day in Nashville. The president, as is his preferred method, fired back via Twitter, saying that "Tennessee not happy!" and declaring Corker's criticism "strange," because, the president said, the senator had been asking his advice on re-election.

Interestingly, at a rally for Alabama Republican senate hopeful Roy Moore Monday, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said “For Mitch McConnell and Ward Baker and Karl Rove and Steven Law — all the instruments that tried to destroy Judge Moore and his family — your day of reckoning is coming.”

Baker is a powerful Republican strategist with connections to Corker. He is also backing Moore's opponent Luther Strange.

Democrats, in a move that raised eyebrows before Tuesday, have said Tennessee's senate seat is a target in 2018, despite the Volunteer State being deeply red, with Trump winning in 2016 with more than 60 percent of the vote.

Corker was facing primary challengers: perennial candidate Larry Crim and Andy Ogles, a conservative activist who served as state director for Americans for Prosperity. U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn said Tuesday she's interested in the seat. Former State Rep. Joe Carr, who lost a surprisingly game primary to Sen. Lamar Alexander in 2014, and State Sen. Mark Green, who withdrew from consideration to be Trump's Army Secretary, have expressed at least some interest in running.

James Mackler, an attorney and veteran, is running as a Democrat.

A crowded gubernatorial field looking to succeed Gov. Bill Haslam may thin out as candidates move their names from one ballot to another. Haslam himself has been noted as a potential candidate.

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