By Burgess Everett (Politico) –
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) will not run for reelection after reconsidering his decision last fall to retire, his chief of staff said Tuesday.
After listening to some Tennessee Republicans and GOP senators who were privately urging him to run, the two-term senator and Foreign Relations Committee chairman decided that this will be his last year as senator, said Todd Womack, Corker’s chief of staff. The move ends a period of intense speculation in Tennessee and Washington about Corker’s future and avoids what could have been an ugly primary between Corker and Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn.
“He’s always believed and served as though he were only going to be in the Senate for two terms,” Womack said in an interview. “And he was willing to listen to folks but he really believes the decision he made in September was the right one and is going to be leaving the Senate at the end of the year.”