RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The majority leader of the North Carolina State Senate says he will not seek re-election.

A letter from Senate Leader Phil Berger’s office on Wednesday says Onslow County Republican Sen. Harry Brown announced on a radio show this week that he felt it’s the appropriate time to focus on his family and his businesses.

Brown said that with the completion of Onslow County School’s regional skills center and North Carolina’s tax climate being one of the best in the nation, “I felt it was time to check off the last goal, so to say.”

The eight-term lawmaker has been the lead budget writer in the Senate since 2014. Berger credited Brown’s leadership for expanded opportunities for rural communities through access to broadband and the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund.