LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A state House member from northeast Kansas has decided against running for re-election as she prepares to deploy to Kosovo with the 35th Infantry Division.

Democrat Melanie Meier, of Leavenworth, is a lieutenant colonel in the Kansas Army National Guard.

The Leavenworth Times reports Meier was recently notified of her pending deployment to Kosovo as part of the National Guard’s ongoing mission in NATO peacekeeping operations.

Meier said in a news release it would be unfair to voters if she won re-election knowing she would miss the 2015 legislative session.

Meier was first elected to the Kansas House in 2008 but mobilized in early 2009 for a yearlong deployment to Iraq. She resigned her seat but regained it in a special election upon her return.