U.S. Sen. John McCain.Sen. John McCain announced Tuesday that he will run for re-election in 2016, making official a move that has been widely expected for the Republican as he looks to extend his nearly three-decade career in the Senate.
McCain, who will turn 80 before the 2016 election is held, described his plans to run before an Arizona Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Phoenix.
The five-term senator became chairman of the Armed Services Committee this year and has remained active in support of the military and involved in U.S. foreign affairs.
Some in the Republican Party have said they could challenge McCain, calling him too moderate. No one else has announced a run, although several names have been mentioned as considering it.
On the Democratic side, no clear candidate has surfaced. In 2012, when Republican Sen. Jeff Flake moved from the House to win the seat being vacated by Jon Kyl, Richard Carmona of Tucson was the Democratic candidate.
McCain is a former Navy pilot who was shot down over what then was North Vietnam in 1967. He was held as a prisoner of war for nearly six years and has described a series of tortures he underwent. He was freed in 1973, the same year that the U.S. military wound down its involvement in the war.
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