Less than four months after announcing he would not run for another term in Congress, U.S. Rep. Denny Heck has joined the race for the newly-open position of Washington state lieutenant governor.

Heck served five terms in the state House of Representatives and chief of staff for Governor Booth Gardner from 1990 to 1993. He won election to Congress in 2013 but became disenchanted with the partisanship that motivated him not to seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives. The News Tribune reports that Heck, a Democrat, has filed paperwork to run for lieutenant governor.

Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib has announced he will not seek re-election but instead enter the Catholic priesthood as a Jesuit.

Heck joins fellow Democrats Sen. Steve Hobbs and Sen. Marko Liias, as well as former Seattle City Councilwoman Ann Davison Sattler, running as a Republican.

The position of lieutenant governor presides over the Senate and fills in for the governor when he is unavailable or out of state.

Heck served five terms in the state House and served as chief of staff for Gov. Booth Gardner from 1990 to 1993. He was elected to Congress in 2013 but said the caustic state of political discourse prompted him to choose not to run for reelection to the U.S. House.