PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Former South Dakota U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin said Monday she will not seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Tim Johnson.
By CHET BROKAW
Associated Press
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Former South Dakota U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin said Monday she will not seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Tim Johnson.
Herseth Sandlin, 42, announced her decision on her Facebook page Monday morning and confirmed it to The Associated Press. The Democrat said she decided not to seek her party's nomination for the U.S. Senate because she wants to focus on her family and her job as an attorney and vice president for Raven Industries.
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"I've decided not to run for office in 2014," Herseth Sandlin told The Associated Press.
Herseth Sandlin lost her first run for Congress in 2002 but won a special election in June 2004. She was later re-elected to three full terms in the U.S. House before losing a re-election bid in 2010 to Republican Kristi Noem.
On her Facebook page, Herseth Sandlin noted that her son, Zachary, will be starting kindergarten next year just weeks before the general election.
"We're looking forward to more quality time with family and friends here in Sioux Falls, up at the farm and out on the river," Herseth Sandlin wrote.
The only announced candidates for Johnson's seat are former Republican Gov. Mike Rounds and Democrat Rick Weiland, an ex-staffer for former Sen. Tom Daschle.
