WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana says he will retire from the Senate and won't seek re-election in 2016.
Coats, 71, was serving his second full term in the Senate.
He says that it wasn't an easy decision but that he's concluded the time has come to pass the job to a new generation of leaders.
He becomes the third senator to announce plans to retire rather than seek re-election. The others are Democrats Barbara Boxer of California and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.
Republicans would be favored to hang onto his seat.