U.S. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina says he won't run for a leadership post in the Senate after the 2012 elections because such a job isn't conducive to pushing policy initiatives in which he's interested.
The Winston-Salem Republican announced his decision Friday. Burr said last fall he would run for Republican whip, after Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl retires. The whip is the No. 2 GOP leadership position and keeps legislative vote counts in the party's Senate caucus.
Burr says a leadership post wouldn't give him time or flexibility needed to commit to legislation he's introduced such as an overhaul of Medicare and Medicaid.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn is expected to run for whip.
Burr was elected to the U.S. House in 1994 and the Senate 10 years later.
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
