STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Idaho Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett (D-Ketchum) announced on Monday that she will not run for re-election.

Had she run, she would have been running in a newly reconfigured District 26, which now includes Jerome County in addition to Blaine and Lincoln counties.

Eric Parker, who challenged Stennett in the last election, has announced his intention to run for the Republican nomination in the upcoming May 17 primary. Rep. Laurie Lickley, who has served two terms in the Idaho House of Representatives, also has announced her intention to run on the Republican ticket.

Stennett was appointed to fill what was then a District 25 Senate seat in 2010 following the death of her husband Clint who had served in the Idaho House and Senate from 1990 to 2010. She was elected to the seat, which included Blaine, Gooding, Camas and Lincoln counties, the following month.

She serves on the Resources & Environment, Senate State Affairs and Health & Welfare committees.

“My time as a Senator has been an extraordinary and humbling experience for which I am grateful,” Stennett said in a release. “I will continue to do my best to serve the people of our district and the state until my term ends in December, but will not seek reelection.”