Ralph Baxter Jr.—who closed out his two-decade-plus run as Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe’s chairman and CEO earlier this year—has decided not to enter the race to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller in 2014.

Baxter, 66, announced his decision during an interview with a West Virginia radio station Thursday. “My family and I have decided that this is not the right time for us to seek political office,” he said during the interview.