State Rep. Chris Lee has become the first prominent politician to announce plans to run for the soon-to-be- vacated state Senate seat held by Laura Thielen (D, Hawaii Kai-Waimanalo- Kailua), creating a fourth vacancy on the Windward side.

“That entire side of the island is open,” Lee, 38, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday after announcing his decision. “It feels like a whole new era we’re about to step into for politics and representation on the Windward side. … There are so many open seats that I think there’s going to be a whole lot of candidates running for a lot of seats. It’s a good opportunity for people to step up.”

Lee (D, Kailua-Lanikai- Waimanalo) was elected to his first of six two-year House terms in 2008 and would have faced reelection in November.

Thielen’s mother, state Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R, Kailua-Kaneohe), also is not seeking reelection, along with U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who represents Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District. City Councilman Ikaika Anderson is prohibited by term limits from seeking another consecutive Council term.

So Lee’s decision to pursue Laura Thielen’s Senate seat means that the Windward side will have all new faces, albeit in different offices if Lee is elected to the Senate.

Lee said the current Windward side representatives have worked well together — and he hopes to continue that collegiality with whomever takes over the other seats if he’s elected.

“For the last few years our Windward delegation worked together closely and were able to do a lot with basic issues, like what’s happening to our roads, dealing with our beach parks and homelessness and lots of things,” Lee said.

If voters elect him to the Senate, Lee said, he hopes to work just as well with whoever fills the other offices because “there are certainly no shortage of big issues we need to solve.”

Lee took a different approach to politics after he suffered a stroke at the age of 30 while in his third year in the House.

“At the time I wasn’t sure I was going to continue in politics,” he said. “That was a pretty big moment that made me realize that there really isn’t a lot of time.”

But then he had an epiphany:

“Politics be damned,” he said. “We just need to do what’s right. If I lost my next election, so be it. Don’t be afraid to take positions on difficult issues. Just do what needs to be done. At the end of the day, I can sleep well at night and have no regrets.”

Doctors could find no source for his stroke and told Lee, “Pretend like it never happened,” he said.

He now now starts each day by running 5 miles up and down Kailua Beach or up and down the Koko Head trail.

Lee said his health is now “better than it’s ever been.”