After mulling a House bid for three days in the wake of Rep. John Linder’s (R-Ga.) retirement announcement, state Sen. David Shafer (R) said Tuesday morning that he has decided against running in the suburban Atlanta 7th district.

Shafer said he wanted to remain close to his family in Georgia rather than serve in Washington, D.C.

“I will be doing everything in my power to help elect a strong, principled conservative to succeed John Linder in Congress. But I have determined that my public service is best performed here in Georgia, on the state level, near the ones I love,” Shafer said in a statement.

Shafer is a former executive director of the Georgia GOP who earned his party’s nomination for secretary of state in 1996. His name was one of the first to be floated for Linder’s open House seat. Another name that popped up quickly over the weekend was fellow state Sen. Don Balfour (R), one of Shafer’s favorite political sparring partners in the state Legislature. Balfour threw his hat into the 7th district race on Monday afternoon.

Georgia GOP insiders said Tuesday that they expect state Rep. Clay Cox and Gwinnett County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau to join Balfour in the primary in the very near future.