Secretary of State Sam Reed, the state’s senior statewide Republican elected official, says he won’t run for a fourth term next year.

Reed, former president of the nation’s secretaries of state and a veteran of more than 40 years in public life, said Tuesday that he’s made the “bittersweet decision” to step aside after his term ends in January, 2013.  He is 70, and said it’s time to let Washington choose a new generation of leadership in this and other statewide offices.

A cancer survivor, he said he has been given a clean bill of health and that he is energetic and enthused about a “vigorous and robust” finale to his term.  He said he has told his cabinet directors to go full-tilt for the rest of his term and to lay the foundation for more reforms and improvements by his successor.

Reed said he is not ready to endorse a potential successor at this time.

In a statement to reporters, Reed said:

“This is a bittersweet decision for me and my family. I have such love and respect for this office and for the opportunities to serve the people of Washington every single day….

“In all, it has been quite a ride — 45 years in public life, including 35 years in elective office (as Thurston County Auditor and Secretary of State). It is true, there is a `time and a season’ and for Margie and me, it is time to move on at the end of the term.

“I am leaving elective office, but not public service.”

Reed is the 14th Secretary of State, and served in the administration of Gov. Dan Evans and former Secretaries of State Lud Kramer and Bruce Chapman. He was elected Thurston County Auditor six times in heavily Democratic Thurston County and elected Secretary of State three times, most recently by a 58 percent vote in the 2008 election.

He served as head of the National Association of Secretaries of State in 2005 and has been a leader on national and state election reform. He is perhaps best known for his handling of the closest gubernatorial election in state history, in 2004, and the series of election reforms that followed.

He also has championed wide-open voting, including the new voter-approved Top 2 Primary.  On his watch, Washington authorized all vote-by-mail, online voter registration, a statewide database of registered voters, electronic voter information, and other reforms.  The office also opened the first Digital Archives, saved the State Library, improved the Corporations and Charities Division, and rebooted the state’s oral history program.

Reed remains a tireless advocate for a State Heritage Center on the Capitol Campus, to bring together the holdings of the State Library, State Archives, history exhibits, education center and other resources for visitors and online.

Secretary Reed promotes civics education, working with school children in a mock elections program and college students on his regular civics tours to campus.  He has made civility a signature issue and is working for political moderation.