Jim DeMint Leaving Senate

South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint will be stepping down to head the conservative thinktank the Heritage Foundation, he announced on Thursday. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will name a successor for DeMint, who will have to run for re-election in 2014. In that same year, DeMint’s fellow South Carolina senator, Lindsey Graham, will also be up for re-election. DeMint, 61, last re-elected in 2010, had announced earlier that he would not seek a third term. A staunch conservative, DeMint has been in the spotlight for his disagreement with his party’s leadership. He will replace Ed Feulner, 71, who will be named the chancellor of the Heritage Foundation and head its Asian Studies Center.