To say that an institution of Tennessee politics is moving on would be a VAST understatement. This seat will be picked up by Republicans in November. It would’ve been picked up if Senator Wilder had stayed – but it’s best that he’s moving on – finally.

NASHVILLE – Former Lt. Gov. John Wilder announced minutes ago that he will not seek re-election to the state Senate seat he has held for 44 years.”I wanted to do what God wanted me to do, and I didn’t know exactly what that was,” Wilder said in a rambling speech on the Senate floor shortly before noon today.

After long deliberations, he said, “I decided not to run for re-election” for the Somerville seat. Wilder compared service in the Senate to being a soldier.

He closed his speech with this cryptic remark: “If I don’t change my mind, that’s what I’m going to do” – referring to retiring from the Senate.

Democrat Wilder, 86, was unseated as lieutenant governor in January 2007 by Republican Lt. Gov. Rom Ramsey. At 36 years, he’d been the longest-serving presiding officer of a legislative body in the United States until that point.

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