Updated 9:25 p.m.
By Jim Tankersley and Rick Pearson
Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) will retire when his term ends in a year and a half, leaving the House without an outspoken institution and Republicans with a potentially competitive open seat to defend.
LaHood, a 30-year political veteran, will announce the decision today in his hometown Peoria, Jacksonville and Springfield. He said in a phone interview that he was leaving "at the top of my career" and ready to spend more quality time with his grandchildren.
"I'm going back to a normal life with my family," he said.
LaHood, 61, was a state legislator and an aide to former House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.) before winning his House seat in 1994. He forged a reputation for working with Democrats and for speaking his mind. In May, for example, he trekked to the White House with other House Republicans to express concerns about the progress of the Iraq.
LaHood considered leaving the House twice in recent years, first to run for governor, then to apply for the presidency of his alma mater, Bradley University. He passed both times, but some Capitol Hill Republicans quietly questioned whether his heart had already left Congress – speculation that LaHood dismissed on Thursday.
"I've given 100 percent, everything I have, to my district and my country," he said, adding: "I think I've done everything I said I would."
Colleagues from both parties praised LaHood Thursday night as a fighter for Illinois.
"He has given his all to public service," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democratic caucus chairman, a longtime LaHood friend. "I've said it before: If you ask folks to come up with an image of what a congressman should look like, they'll do an etching of Ray LaHood."
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) called LaHood "an independent voice and a very effective, moderate advocate for the needs of our state."
Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) said constituents – and Washington news reporters – would miss LaHood's candor. "It's a huge loss for the people of Illinois, the press and me personally," she said.
GOP leaders have said in the past they aren't worried about losing LaHood's seat. Democrats say they'll compete seriously in it; Kirk called the district "Republican-leaning, but not a Republican lock."
Two prominent Republicans said Thursday they would consider running to replace LaHood: state Rep. Aaron Schock of Peoria – a 26-year-old past president of the Peoria School Board who has been viewed as a political up-and-comer for a demoralized Illinois GOP – and state Rep. David Leitch (R-Peoria), 59, a 20-year veteran legislator.
Some Republicans are also speculating that LaHood's son Darren (cq) could run for the seat. An attorney, the younger LaHood moved back to the Peoria area about a year ago and had discussed a potential bid for Peoria County state's attorney against incumbent Democrat Kevin Lyons.
Lyons, perhaps the Peoria area's most prominent Democrat, is also likely to consider a congressional bid.
LaHood said he's not sure what he'll do next, but he's open to all options. "I'm waiting for the phone to ring," he said.
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Comments
I wrote to Lahood before the invasion of Iraq and expressed my concern as a military vet and college student about the impact of such a decision. I have in writing from Lahood's office about why the invasion is right and just. Lahood could have been an addition to Profiles in Courage but instead towed the line of his party. I am sure he regrets that decision.
Posted by: Combat Medic | July 26, 2007 7:45 PM
Hip Hip, Hooray!
Another Bush sock puppet bites the dust. Apparently Ray felt he could no longer "play in Peoria".
Posted by: Mike Kisler | July 26, 2007 9:13 PM
Good riddance! Lahood is a perfect example of why I am an ex-Republican. Leaders (what a joke) and members like him have poisoned and weakened the party to a point of insignificance. He never met a spending bill he didn't like, a tax he couldn't be payed-off to support or a cause he could stand behind with any backbone or conviction.
A very belated, but welcome farewell from a former constituent.
Posted by: bruno | July 26, 2007 9:35 PM
LaHood supported the war from DAY ONE. He was wrong then. He's cutting and running now because he knows eventually.... eventually the U.S. troops will leave. And unless we have a strongman on the scale of Saddam Hussein in place, the country will fall into shambles. And LaHood doesn't want to be around when that happens.
He's hoping, as are many Republicans, that the Democrats will be at the wheel when Operation Monkey Boy falls over the cliff. Then LaHood, like other Republicans, will claim forevermore that they had the right idea and plans.
Somehow, though, they were never able to execute, despite controlling all three branches of government and having the so-called Fourth Estate at their heels.
Posted by: Bud McFarlin | July 26, 2007 9:50 PM
Bomp Bomp Bomp
Another Republic Party Member Bites The Dust
Bomp Bomp Bomp
Another Wingnut Bites The Dust
And Another One Goes
And Another Goes
Another Republic Party Member Bites The Dust
Hey, Gonna Get You Too
Another Wingnut Bites The Dust
Don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out, LaHood.
Posted by: John E | July 26, 2007 11:27 PM
Good riddance is right. I've seen him on a few of the cable news shows over the past couple of years, always defending the Iraq war to no end (and even semi-recently).
Posted by: Anonymous | July 26, 2007 11:28 PM
Schock is a lock. Schock won his rep seat at age 23 in a 60% Democratic district. He was just re-elected with 59% of the vote and 39% of the African American vote.
He raised a million and quarter just for his last state house race. That's already on par with congressional races.
He won his first race against the Peoria school board president with 60% of the vote at age 19 AS A WRITE-IN candidate. Unusually strong candidate he is.
Posted by: Patricia | July 26, 2007 11:35 PM
Rumor has it that LaHood is "retiring" to a cush job as editor of an Electrical Contracting Products magazine and he was rewarded with a brand new Nissan Murano SUV as a bonus gift for taking the job...which was given to him by a fatcat GOP donor, (cygnusb2b.com).
Posted by: John E | July 27, 2007 12:21 AM
Good, he was never that effective anyway.
Posted by: Alex Jackson | July 27, 2007 4:48 AM
Good riddance. LaHood was nothing but a rubber stamp for Bush and his administration. A man without independent thought or a backbone, a two faced hypocrite.
LaHood talks tough about war and terror and Iraq but he's another Republican with zero military experience. A false patriot for sure.
Posted by: Doug R. | July 27, 2007 9:24 AM
Ray LaHood has been an outastanding congressman representiong the people from Illinois well over the years. We need more like him. I wish him well in whatever he does.
Posted by: Larry Minniear | July 27, 2007 11:56 AM