Senate Republican to step down…

State Sen. Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland, said Thursday that he won’t run for re-election this fall.

“At this time, my family and I have agreed that the time is right to step aside and give someone else an opportunity to represent the district as senator while I turn my attention to a career outside of politics,” Finkbeiner said in a written statement Thursday morning.

The decision leaves an open seat in a swing district — the 45th. Democrats are looking to increase their 26-vote to 23-vote control of the Senate.

Finkbeiner, a former Democrat elected to the House in 1992, later switched parties and rose to Senate Majority Leader in 2005. He stepped down this year, shortly before taking a vote that angered many of the GOP colleagues: voting yes on a bill to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The bill became law.

Finkbeiner’s working on a master’s degree.