January 10, 2008

Doolittle To Retire Amid Growing GOP Pressure

UPDATED.

Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., announced today that he will not seek re-election for a 10th term in office, ending months of speculation that he would leave Capitol Hill under the cloud of a federal investigation. "I plan to complete my term and finish my congressional service at the conclusion of this Congress," Doolittle said at a news conference today in his district.

"My wife, Julie, and I have made this decision after much prayer and deliberation. It was not my initial intent to retire, and I fully expected and planned to run again right up until very recently. But it distilled upon us that we were ready for a change after spending almost our entire married lives with me in public service." Doolittle and his wife are under scrutiny as part of the influence-peddling probe of imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In April, the FBI raided Doolittle's Virginia home in pursuit of information regarding work his wife performed for Abramoff. Since then, the lawmaker and several of his aides have been served grand jury subpoenas, and it was unlikely his legal situation would be resolved before the November elections. Doolittle is challenging subpoenas issued to him for office records and said he believed the federal probe of him would be on hiatus for one to two years while courts decide on the constitutionality of the subpoenas.

In 2006, Doolittle beat Democrat Charlie Brown by a slender margin (49 percent to 46 percent). He was under pressure from House Republican officials, GOP officials and members of the California congressional delegation to clear the way for another Republican candidate for his 4th District seat.

While he vowed to seek re-election and called his Republican detractors "weasels," Doolittle was already facing two primary challengers: Auburn City Councilman Mike Holmes -- who mounted a primary challenge to Doolittle in 2006 -- and Air Force reservist and security consultant Eric Egland. Other Republicans are now expected to enter the race, including Assemblyman Ted Gaines and former state Sen. Rico Oller.

GOP sources said former Rep. Doug Ose is considering running for the Republican nomination, while Brown is running again for the Democratic nomination and his fundraising has far outpaced Doolittle's. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma said Doolittle's seat "is a solid Republican district and we are certain it will remain that way. We have multiple candidates interested in running for this seat."

-Christian Bourge, CongressDaily

Posted at 3:20 PM
Posted to: Congress, Crime, House, Jack Abramoff
Share via