BEAUFORT, N.C. (AP) — The mayor of a small North Carolina coastal town is getting into next year’s race for U.S. Senate.

Beaufort Mayor Rett Newton told the Carteret County News-Times of his plans to announce his bid for the Democratic nomination in early April. Republican Sen. Richard Burr has said he won’t seek reelection in 2022.

Newton is a retired Air Force colonel and current doctoral student at Duke University studying marine science and conservation. He says the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol motivated him to get in the race because he wants to defend democracy against violent actors.