Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced Friday that he would not run for reelection in 2016.

After years of duking it out in the Senate, the former majority leader (and former amateur boxer) announced that it was time for him to finally step down. His reason: the good of the Senate, Nevada, and the country.

“These bruises I have on my face, on my eye, are an inconvenience," Reid began the announcement saying, "but trust me, they’re nothing compared to some of the bruises I got when I was fighting in the ring.”

“This accident, for the first time, has caused us to have a little down time. I have had time to ponder and to think. We’ve got to be more concerned about the country, the Senate, the State of Nevada, than us.”

Reid explained that he wanted to go out "at the top of my game," in part a reference to his struggling health after he was badly injured in an accident at the gym in January. But his primary reason for bowing out, he suggested, is that another campaign would be an unnecessary drain on Democratic election funds. His 2016 run—like his massively expensive 2010 campaign—would simply "soak up" too much money needed elsewhere in the Democrats bid to wrest the Senate from Republicans.

“I think it is unfair for me to be soaking up all the money to be re-elected with what we are doing in Maryland, in Pennsylvania, in Missouri, in Florida. These are big, expensive states,” said Reid.

As the New York Times explains, Reid's run as senate majority leader grew increasingly "combative" and controversial before he was dethroned after the Republican landslide election in 2014:

Mr. Reid’s tenure has become increasingly combative in recent years and included a procedural change on nominations that infuriated Republicans. He also came under fire for blocking floor debate, and even some of his Democratic colleagues suggested that he was stifling the Senate. Just this week, he alienated House Democrats who thought he was sabotaging a compromise on Medicare. [...]

His strict management of the Senate the past few years became an issue in the 2014 elections as Republicans accused him of stifling debate and denying even Democrats an opportunity to push their priorities on the Senate floor. He blamed Republicans for the legislative gridlock, citing their deep opposition to Mr. Obama and their determination to deny him any victories.​

Reid was responsible for ramming through Obamacare, despite its unpopularity among Americans and lawmakers alike. Though the restructuring of America's healthcare system was passed without a single vote from the other side of the aisle, Reid remained especially proud of that accomplishment. He also helped pass the infamous 2013 immigration reform bill that was blocked in the House, recently saying that the President "has the right to determine who is to be deported."

Soon after Reid's announcement, the Republican Senatorial Committee responded by suggesting he was retiring because he was "on the verge" of losing reelection and describing him as now "instantly" "irrelevant":

On the verge of losing his own election and after losing the majority, Senator Harry Reid has decided to hang up his rusty spurs. Not only does Reid instantly become irrelevant and a lame duck, his retirement signals that there is no hope for the Democrats to regain control of the Senate. With the exception of Reid, every elected statewide official in Nevada is Republican and this race is the top pickup opportunity for the GOP.