U.S. Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) won’t seek re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2016.

He announced the decision in the following news release sent Tuesday, March 24.

“Today I am announcing that I will not seek re-election to the United States Senate. This was not an easy decision. While I believe I am well-positioned to run a successful campaign for another six-year term, I have concluded that the time has come to pass this demanding job to the next generation of leaders.

“Until the end of my Senate term, I pledge to my constituents that I will continue to focus all of my time and energy on the major challenges that Hoosiers sent me to Washington to address.

“I am grateful to God and to Hoosiers who allowed me to serve my state and my country. I am particularly thankful for the unqualified support of my wife Marsha and our family. Regarding this decision, they were 100 percent in favor of whatever choice I would make.

“Marsha and I look forward to continued engagement in Indiana in many other ways.”

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence congratulated Coats on his political career following the announcement.

“With his decision to retire from the United States Senate at the end of his current term, Senator Dan Coats will bring to a close an extraordinary career in public service marked by humility, integrity, and a commitment to principled conservative leadership,” Pence wrote in an email to media. “Through his long career in public service, whether it be his time in uniform, his service in the U.S. House and Senate or as our Ambassador to Germany, few Hoosiers have made a greater contribution to our state or nation in public service than Senator Dan Coats.”

Coats is the third senator to announce plans to retire, including democrats Barbara Boxer of California and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.