Rep. Chris Tuck, D-Anchorage, announced Thursday he will run for the Alaska State Senate seat soon to be vacated by Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson who’s running for U.S. Senate.

Tuck is the House majority leader but said Friday in an interview with the Empire he was tired of seeing bills for a fiscal plan shepherded through the House only to die in the Senate.

“I don’t want to wait until we’re in dire straits before our departments are almost broken,” Tuck said.

Gray-Jackson announced Thursday morning she was running as a Democrat to unseat Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in the U.S. Senate. Later that day Tuck announced he would be running for Gray-Jackson’s seat.

Tuck also expressed frustration with having to run for reelection every two years, as members of the House must do.

“This will be my 11th election,” said Tuck, who was first elected in 2009, said.

Senators serve four-year terms, which Tuck said afforded more freedom to address statewide issues.

“This has been a privilege serving Alaska,” Tuck said. “I hope to apply that at a much larger level.”

Contact reporter Peter Segall at psegall@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SegallJnuEmpire.