Longtime state senator announces retirement

Photo:scstatehouse.gov

Orangeburg, S.C. (AP)–A state senator who has served in the South Carolina General Assembly since 1975 says he will step aside at the end of the year.

Sen. John Matthews said Tuesday he will not file for reelection later this month.

The 79-year-old Democrat from Orangeburg County spent 10 years in the House after being elected in 1974.

He then was elected to the state Senate in 1984, serving ever since. No African American lawmaker has served longer at the Statehouse.

Matthews says he thinks the best way to continue the momentum he and his senators ave built is to have a new generation take over.