Amateur Boxer Reid Avoids Senate Election Fight by Retiring

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, during a news conference following a Senate luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 24, 2015.

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, an amateur boxer turned political pugilist, is stepping out of the ring.

The Nevada lawmaker announced his plans to retire after this session in a video message Friday on YouTube. Reid said a Jan. 1 exercise accident in his Nevada home in which he temporarily lost sight in one eye had given him “time to ponder and think” about his future.