Saying he never intended to be a professional politician, Rep. John Shadegg announced Monday that he will not seek re-election to an eighth term in Congress.
Just weeks ago, Shadegg spoke confidently about his ability to win another term from the 3rd Congressional District, and he had raised nearly $500,000 for re-election in the fourth quarter.
On Monday, however, he said his decision was a personal one and was not spurred by concerns over his health or fear that he could lose his seat in November.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a number of months, though I’ve held it close to my vest,” Shadegg, 58, told The Republic on Monday. “I’ve just reached the conclusion I’d like to do something else with my life other than be in the minority in the U.S. House of Representatives.” (Emphasis added.)
I love it when they finally admit the truth. And Shadegg’s reason for bailing applies equally for every GOP member of Congress. In other words, I doubt he’ll be the last to retire.
This district has a PVI of R+5.9. Tough sledding, but we have a strong candidate in Bob Lord, who has already raised over $600K and still has half-a-mil on hand. And with any luck, we’ll see a bloody GOP primary. The AZ Republic says:
As of Monday night, no Republican challenger had stepped up, but several names have been mentioned, including: Shadegg chief of staff Sean Noble, Arizona House Speaker Jim Weiers, state Sen. Jim Waring, Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes and Scottsdale attorney Jordan Rose.
Arizona’s primary is very late – not until Sept. 2nd. So a drawn-out fight could put the GOP at a big disadvantage.
P.S. Caped Composer caught this one right away when it broke.
UPDATE: Local Dems are rallying around Lord:
Emily Bittner, communications director for the Arizona Democratic Party, said the party would support Lord over other Democrats.
“The party is strongly behind Bob Lord,” said Maria Weeg, executive director of the party.
On top of that, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon (D) said he would not run, and 2006 Senate candidate Jim Pederson (whose name was also in the mix) has now endorsed Lord.
this district is very similar to neighboring AZ-05, where Harry Mitchell picked up the seat in 2006 by defeating
Foghorn LeghornJ.D. Hayworth. They’re both currently about 73% Anglo and 17% Latino (changed from about 77/13 in 2000). Neither one is that heavy on the senior citizens (only about 10% over 65; most of the oldsters are concentrated in AZ-02). They’re the two most affluent districts in the state. And they have similar PVIs (the 5th is R+4, instead of R+6 here). Hopefully that bodes well for our chances.This retirement makes no sense to me.
Ron Gunzburg at Politics1.com cites CQ as source for saying that Shaddegg is known to be interested in McCain’s Senate seat. If that’s so, wouldn’t his strongest suit be to stay in the House and fund-raise like mad, this cycle, so he can start the 2010 cycle with a big convertible warchest?
The Arizona Republic broke the story:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizo…
Former state legislator Steve May joins the race. An AZ Republican blogger suggests it will “clarify” the race and provide incentive for the various conservative candidates to coalesce.
May is one of those small-government, low-tax, business-friendly Jeff Flake types, a military veteran. It’s a sign of how screwed up the Republican Party is that even in a state where they survived the shame and horror of having an openly gay Republican serve in Congress in an adjacent district, this perfectly well-qualified candidates is evidently a non-starter as far as most of them are concerned.