INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Another longtime Republican state senator says he won't seek re-election next year.

Sen. Allen Paul of Richmond announced Wednesday he won't seek an eighth term in his eastern Indiana district. The announcement follows a similar one by Sen. Tom Wyss of Fort Wayne last month.

Paul says that after serving 27 years in the Senate, he wants to focus his time on new endeavors and his family.
 
The decorated Vietnam combat veteran was elected in 1986 to the seat that now includes all or parts of Dearborn, Fayette, Franklin, Randolph, Union and Wayne counties.
 
He currently chairs the Commission on Military and Veterans Affairs. The Legislature last year passed into law his “combat to college” bill requiring universities with at least 200 veteran students to provide them educational assistance.