Mercer County Republican Chairman David O. King said Tuesday he will not seek another term when the party reorganizes in June.

King has served two stints as GOP chairman -- his first during the late 1980s before he was elected state representative, and most recently when former Mercer County Commissioner Brian W. Shipley stepped down as party chair after he was elected commissioner in 1999. King filled out Shipley's term as GOP chair and was elected to a two-year term in 2000.

"I feel I served (the party) as I was called upon to do, but it's time for me to move on," King said. "Other people can well serve the party."

King said he felt the process to tap a new GOP chair would be "reinvigorating" for the party. He would not say if he was endorsing anyone to succeed him.

The local party experienced ups and downs during King's tenure, from growing GOP registration numbers in Mercer County to Democrat Al Gore's county win in the 2000 election. The party also endured months of controversy last year when former party chief Shipley ran into trouble over his use of a county credit card and cell phone. Those problems ultimately led to Shipley's resignation as county commissioner.

Regarding the Shipley affair, King said, "I feel our actions well served the party."

King -- who defended Shipley in a letter to The Herald days after the controversy began -- publicly laced Shipley the day before Shipley resigned and then directed the party's effort to come up with a short list of potential replacements.

That list of three candidates was submitted to Mercer County Common Pleas Court, but judges ultimately chose someone not on the party's list, then-Wilmington Township Supervisor Kenneth S. Seamans.

King -- who held the 17th District state house seat from 1990 to 1996, when he chose not to run for reelection -- will not disappear from politics after his term as party chair expires. He said he will remain coordinator of state Attorney General Mike Fisher's gubernatorial campaign in Mercer County.