By CHRIS MORRIS
Connie Sipes has decided 14 years is long enough to serve in the Indiana State Senate.
Sipes, who represents District 46, announced Thursday night at the annual Floyd County Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson Dinner held at The Grand, that she would not seek a fourth term.
“There has been a lot of speculation whether I was going to run for re-election. I have decided not to seek re-election,” Sipes told the audience, some of whom moaned at the news.
While Sipes is stepping aside, Chuck Freiberger hopes to be the man to fill her shoes. Freiberger, a Floyd County Commissioner and a teacher at Highland Hills Middle School, announced that he was a candidate for the District 46 seat.
“I’ve got some big shoes to fill, so I need your support,” Freiberger told the room full of Democrats. “I have the same values that you have. I want a strong education system, safe neighborhoods and I want to make the Hoosier State a better place for all of us to live.”
Sipes, a retired educator, was appointed to the Senate in 1997 and was elected in 1998, 2002 and 2006. She serves as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appointment and Claims Committee and is a member of the Senate Education and Career Development Committee; the Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee; the Elections Committee; and the Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee, according to her Web site.
“I have had such a great opportunity,” she said. “I have had the opportunity to work for three governors and from where I come from, I would have never thought that was possible. I want to leave on a positive note and I feel like I am doing that.”
She gave her support to Freiberger, who is the only Democrat candidate to announce his plans to run for the seat.
“Chuck will be an awesome state senator,” she said.
Two local Republicans — Lee Ann Wiseheart, a member of the New Albany-Floyd County Board of School Trustees and Jeffersonville City Councilman Ron Grooms — have already announced plans to run for Sipes’ seat.
