Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater is announcing he will not run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Marco Rubio.
Atwater was expected to run for Rubio's seat once the Florida Republican announces his campaign for president next week.
But Atwater abruptly announced on his Facebook account Saturday that he's staying put. Atwater was re-elected last November to a four-year term as chief financial officer.
Atwater said he had gotten words of encouragement about running for Senate but that he has concluded that he should remain committed to "only one endeavor."
Atwater's decision immediately opens up the GOP side. Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy has already announced he is running for the seat in 2016.
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