Democratic Delaware Sen. Tom Carper announced he will not run for a fifth term in 2024, The Hill reports. 

“After a good deal of prayer and introspection and more than a few heart-to-heart conversations, we decided I should do neither,” Carper, 76, said in his announcement in which he referred to having considered running for re-election and then riding off into the sunset. 

“Hands-on favorite” to replace him is Delaware’s Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who served as an aide to Carper when he was the state’s House member-at-large and told Politico earlier this year she would consider a Senate run if her former boss retired. 

Before he was elected junior senator to Joe Biden in 2000, Carper had served two terms as governor of Delaware after his tenure in the House. Carper becomes the fourth Democratic senator to announce retirement after the 2024 elections, after California's Diane Feinstein, Michigan's Debbie Stabenow and Maryland's Ben Cardin.

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Among debate issues; Will debt-ceiling discussions put the kibosh on President Biden’s agenda, and on his legacy as well?

Should Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) resign early and potentially hand the 2024 Democratic primary for her seat to Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)?

Also up for discussion:

•The Consumer Price Index was up 4.9% in April, still too high for the Federal Reserve, but reflecting a slow and continuing improvement over last year. Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported a week earlier that the U.S. economy added 253,000 jobs in April, higher than most economists had predicted. This comes after the Fed indicated its latest quarter-point interest rate hike might be its last for a while. All these high numbers could be fond memories of our 2023 economy if Congress fails to pass a debt ceiling increase in coming weeks.

•A Manhattan court awarded E. Jean Carroll $5 million in her sexual abuse and defamation case against Donald J. Trump, who of course, will appeal.