(Bloomberg) -- Oklahoma Republican Senator Jim Inhofe, a leading skeptic of climate change who is his party’s ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, plans to resign the seat that he has held since 1994.

Inhofe, 87, told the Oklahoman newspaper that he’s endorsing Luke Holland, his chief of staff, as his replacement to finish out his term, which ends in January 2027. He plans to remain in office through the end of the year.

Inhofe, who was elected to fifth six-year term in 2020, told the Oklahoman that he and his wife, Kay, “have decided that we need to have time together.” 

As the top Republican of the Senate Armed Services Committee,  Inhofe is a prominent voice on national security and military spending issues. Inhofe, who also previously led the Senate’s environmental panel, vigorously defended his home state’s oil and gas industry and is one of the party’s leading skeptics on climate change. He made headlines for bringing a snowball onto the Senate floor during debate over the issue in 2015.

Other potential Republican contenders for Inhofe’s seat include include Matt Pinnell, the state’s lieutenant governor; T.W. Shannon, the former speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives; and R. Trent Shores, a former U.S. attorney in the state, according to the New York Times, which earlier reported on Inhofe’s plans. 

Under Oklahoma law, candidates for Inhofe’s seat would have to file by the mid-April deadline in order to run in the June primary. If no candidate gets a majority of the vote, the top-two vote-getters would compete in the August run-off. Whoever wins the GOP nomination would be favored to win the November election given the state’s solidly Republican history.

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HE BROUGHT A SNOWBALL TO

CONGRESS TO PROVE THERE IS NO

GLOBAL WARMING


Oklahoma's Inhofe confirms he is resigning US Senate seat

Oklahoma’s U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe says he will step down

 before his six-year term is up and that he is “absolutely” at 
peace with the decision


Election 2022 Inhofe
(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Oklahoma's U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, says he will step down before his six-year term is up and that he is “absolutely” at peace with the decision.

In an interview published Friday by The Oklahoman, the 87-year-old Inhofe said he and his wife, Kay, “have decided that we need to have time together.”

Inhofe has held the seat since 1994 and his departure will trigger a special election for his replacement.

“I didn’t make a solid decision until two or three weeks ago,” Inhofe told the newspaper. “There has to be one day where you say, ‘All right, this is going to be it.’”

Inhofe, who was elected to a fifth Senate term in 2020, said he will continue to serve until the next Congress begins in January.

The timing of Inhofe's announcement is related to a quirk in Oklahoma law that requires the governor to call a special election if a lawmaker announces they intend to retire before March 1. The special election would be held concurrently with the statewide primary, runoff and general election, part of the nation’s midterms.

Republicans will be heavily favored to retain the seat; Oklahoma hasn't sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1990.

Inhofe's announcement is likely to trigger a series of announcements from Republicans planning to run for the seat. Among those expected to consider the race are Republican U.S. Reps. Kevin Hern and Markwayne Mullin; former Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives T.W. Shannon, who ran for U.S. Senate in 2014; and Tulsa attorney Gentner Drummond, who is currently running for attorney general.

In his interview with The Oklahoman, Inhofe endorsed his chief of staff, Luke Holland, to replace him.

Oklahoma's three-day filing period begins April 13.