State Senator Bob Meeks Announces Retirement

From the Ryerson Rag:

State Sen. Bob Meeks, R-LaGrange, announced his retirement in a Statehouse new conference this afternoon.

Meeks cited a recent stroke and health concerns as his reason for retiring after 20 years. The 74-year-old lawmaker serves as chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which oversees budget deliberations.

His resignation will become effective after the November election. Meeks ran unopposed in the May primary.

“This is not my first choice,” Meeks said of retiring. “I would prefer to stay here.”

The lingering effects of a February stroke, he said, have made it more difficult to handle the stress and intense studying and reading his leadership position in the Senate requires. Meeks said his heart doctor told him that staying in his current role in the Senate likely would kill him.

Meeks said he recently finally came to grips with the reality that his body is no longer up to the job and that staying in the position when he would be unable to give 100 percent would “be a disservice to my Republican colleagues and the state of Indiana.”

Senate President Pro Tempore David Long said no decision who would serve as Meeks’ successor on the Appropriations Committee would be made until November.

The timing of this would lead be to believe this is a very safe seat. So even if Sen. Meeks runs in November with the intention of resigning immediately after so the Precinct Committeemen will select his replacement, a Dem win is not remotely possible.