(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid announced Friday that he won’t seek re-election in 2016, ending his Congressional career after three decades.

Reid, still bruised from a serious exercise injury, made the announcement in a YouTube video. He said the injury (and his demotion to minority leader) had nothing to do with his decision, but it did give him some time to think things over.

“I have had time to ponder and to think. We’ve got to be more concerned about the country, the Senate, the state of Nevada than us. And as a result of that I’m not going to run for re-election,” Reid says in the video.

He also gives a shout out to Majority leader Sen. Mitch McConnell: “Don’t be too elated. I’m gonna be here for 22 months. And you know what I’m going to be doing? The same thing I’ve done since I first came to the Senate.”

In an interview with The New York Times, the 75-year-old indicated another reason for stepping down. “I want to be able to go out at the top of my game,” he told the Times. “I don’t want to be a 42-year-old trying to become a designated hitter.”

The response was swift Friday:

“Harry Reid is a fighter,” President Barack Obama said in a statement. “He’s never backed down from a tough decision, or been afraid to choose what is right over what is easy”

Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin said in a statement: “In the dark days after the 2004 election, a Mormon boxer from Nevada became the LGBT community’s quiet champion in the Senate, and we will be forever grateful for his leadership. During Senator Reid’s term as majority leader, the Senate passed sweeping legislation that has fundamentally improved the lives of LGBT Americans.”

“On the verge of losing his own election and after losing the majority, Senator Harry Reid has decided to hang up his rusty spurs,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee Executive Director Ward Baker. “Not only does Reid instantly become irrelevant and a lame duck, his retirement signals that there is no hope for the Democrats to regain control of the Senate.”

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