Sources: Houghton (R-NY) Won't Seek Re-Election

[ButterflyBlood]

WASHINGTON - Rep. Amo Houghton, an institution in upstate New York politics, has told fellow Republicans he will not run for re-election, The Associated Press has learned.

Sources within the Republican Party in New York state told the AP on Monday that Houghton, 77, has spoken to GOP officials in Washington and back home about his plans and has told them he does not intend to seek a 10th term.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/local/8362437.htm

This is the most Republican district in New York, the only one where * beat Gore by more than 10 points. So it's not a likely pickup. Whoever replaces him will be a GOP shill who'd be way worse than Houghton, who opposed both the Iraq Invasion and Clinton Impeachment. With Connie Morella and now him gone, decent Republicans are quickly becoming extinct. So yeah, this is a shame.

[countmyvote4real]

1. "decent Republicans" seems like an oxymoron these days,

but I do remember when it was still possible balance both definitions.

[Lexingtonian]

2. it was expected

He put up quite a fight to keep 'his' district contiguous during the mess that was NY redistricting in '02. To be fair, none of the rest of the NY delegation really wanted any piece of of it- cow farms and dying factory towns in the hill country east and west of Corning. But something/someone had to give in western NY and LaFalce's district lost a good bit more population. So when he got to keep the district he felt he had to validate the effort to everyone involved by running again.

John Kuhl (state senator) is Houghton's well-groomed pick for a successor. Judging from the candidate pool (at DC's Political Report) it doesn't seem Republicans locally are fully in agreement with that.

[Doomsayer13]

3. another good Republican gone