BY RICK PLUTA
Michigan Public Radio Network
Veteran U.S. Senator Carl Levin has announced he will not seek reelection next year.
Carl Levin, a Democrat, has served in the Senate since 1979. He announced his decision via an e-mail sent by his office.
Levin said his choice not to seek reelection will allow him to focus on some critical issues without the distraction of campaigning. The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said one of those is shifting responsibility for security in Afghanistan to the Afghan military.
Levin said he will also spend his final two years in the Senate working to help manufacturing, shut down the ways corporations avoid paying taxes, and closing ways that powerful special interests secretly finance political campaigns.
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