Republican U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson announced that he will resign at the end of 2019. The long-serving Georgia Senator announced this on Wednesday that he is resigning at the end of the year, citing ongoing health concerns.
Isakson’s Senate term ends in 2022, and there will be three years left in the term when he vacates the seat in December.
He said that he will not be able to continue to do the job “in the manner the citizens of Georgia deserve.”
Stating further, he said:
“After much prayer and consultation with my family and my doctors, I have made the very tough decision to leave the U.S. Senate at the end of this year. I have informed Georgia Governor Brian Kemp today that I will resign my Senate seat effective December 31, 2019,” Isakson said.
The 74-year old was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013. In July, Isakson fell in his D.C. apartment and suffered four fractured ribs and a torn rotator cuff. On Monday, Isakson underwent surgery at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta to remove a 2-centimetre renal cell carcinoma from one of his kidneys.
“In my 40 years in elected office, I have always put my constituents and my state of Georgia first. With the mounting health challenges I am facing, I have concluded that I will not be able to do the job over the long term in the manner the citizens of Georgia deserve,” Isakson said.
“It goes against every fibre of my being to leave in the middle of my Senate term, but I know it’s the right thing to do on behalf of my state.“
In 2016, Isakson won re-election with 54% of the vote and became the first Republican in Georgia to be elected to a third term in the U.S. Senate.
After more than three decades in the real estate business, Isakson became the only elected official in Georgia to serve in the Georgia House, the Georgia Senate, the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.