California Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer announced Thursday that she will not run for re-election in 2016.
In a video "interview" with her grandson posted on YouTube, Boxer said "I want to come home. I want to come home to the state I love so much, California."
"I am never going to retire," she said in the video. "The work is too important. But I will not be running for the Senate in 2016."
Boxer, who is 74, said that her age did not play a role in her decision.
"I feel as young as I did when I got elected," she said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, also from California, said Thursday that Boxer is " one of the most unselfish politicians I have ever known."
"She reached across aisle, she reached across our state, [and] her leaving will be a great loss to the Congress of the United States, to people of California and to our country," said an emotional Pelosi, who was caught off-guard by the news.