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State Sen. Phil Boots Announces Retirement, Fifth To Do So This Year

Sen. Phil Boots (R-Crawfordsville) was first elected to the state Senate in 2006.
Sen. Phil Boots (R-Crawfordsville) was first elected to the state Senate in 2006.

Indiana State Sen. Phil Boots (R-Crawfordsville) announced Friday he will retire next year, opting not to run for re-election.

Boots, first elected in 2006, is chair of the Senate Pensions and Labor Committee. In a statement, the Crawfordsville Republican said he is “grateful to serve.”

Boots becomes the fifth GOP lawmaker to announce their retirement this year, joining Rep. Tim Brown (R-Crawfordsville), Rep. Tony Cook (R-Cicero), Sen. Ron Grooms (R-Jeffersonville) and Sen. Dennis Kruse (R-Auburn)

Four of them – Boots, Brown, Cook and Grooms – were drawn into districts with other Republicans in the proposed redistricting maps recently unveiled at the Statehouse.

Contact reporter Brandon at  bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon J. Smith has previously worked as a reporter and anchor for KBIA Radio in Columbia, MO. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, IL as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.