[van id=”politics/2017/10/24/jeff-flake-retire-after-term-senate-floor-sot.cnn”]
(CNN) — Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona will not run for re-election, saying Tuesday he wouldn’t embrace President Donald Trump to win next year’s Republican primary.
“Here’s the bottom line: The path that I would have to travel to get the Republican nomination is a path I’m not willing to take, and that I can’t in good conscience take,” Flake told The Arizona Republic.
He intends to detail his decision to retire on the Senate floor on Tuesday, the newspaper reported.
Will Allison, Flake’s campaign spokesman, confirms to CNN that he is not running.
His decision means Flake joins retiring Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker as an outspoken critic of Trump with nothing to lose in the year before 2018’s midterm elections.
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2017 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. (Photo: Jeff Flake Official Portrait)
