Rep. John Lunsford (R-McDonough) has backed out of the District 17 State Senate race, and will not run for any political office in 2010.

Lunsford said Speaker of the House David Ralston personally requested that Lunsford stay in the house, because of the importance of having stability with the upcoming reapportionment, following the 2010 Census.

However, Lunsford felt it would be unfair to qualify for his current state representative seat, District 110, unless the other candidates voluntarily dequalified, because they entered the race only or mainly because the seat was vacant.

Not all candidates agreed to do this, therefore, Lunsford decided not to run for reelection. Regarding the state senate seat, Lunsford said he had already recruited Rick Jeffares to run in his stead, and Lunsford felt it would disingenuous to jump back in that race.

“I have the right to mess up my own life, but not someone else’s life,” he said Friday.

Lunsford said he was looking forward to having time off after being a representative for 10 years. He said he would spend more time with his family and support Jeffares in his state senate campaign.