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Posted on 07/25/2011 9:53:42 AM PDT by kcvl
LITTLE ROCK - U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, the only Democrat among Arkansas' four House members, announced Monday he won't seek re-election next year.
Ross, who has expressed interest in running for governor in 2014, said in a statement that he wants to spend time with his family and explore "new opportunities here at home in Arkansas."
Ross is serving his sixth term representing Arkansas' sprawling 4th District, which gained some counties from traditionally Republican territory in the northwestern part of the state during this year's redistricting process. The move wasn't expected to hurt a Ross re-election bid, but it could make the district questionable for Democrats without him.
"I never believed that my service in the U.S. Congress should become a permanent career," Ross said in the statement. "Simply put, it is someone else's turn to represent our state in the U.S. Congress."
Ross said he would serve out the rest of his term and wouldn't decide until it's over whether to run for governor. But the race was clearly on his mind.
"I believe it would be impossible to successfully run for governor here at home, while effectively carrying out my congressional duties in Washington," Ross said. "That wouldn't be fair to the people who elected me to Congress and it wouldn't be fair to my supporters in a race for Governor. That certainly factored into my decision not to seek re-election to the U.S. Congress."
Ross had the most cash on hand among Arkansas' four congressmen with $319,172 in the bank, according to the latest campaign finance reports.
Ross was elected in 2000 with help from then-President Bill Clinton, who campaigned for him and against incumbent Republican Jay Dickey. The district includes Clinton's hometown of Hope, and Dickey engendered the ire of its favorite son when he voted in favor of impeachment during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Dickey tried unsuccessfully to unseat Ross two years later and no Republican has given Ross a scare since.
Ross is a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. He's also known as a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of centrist Democrats with a fiscally conservative message. He opposed President Barack Obama's health overhaul plan.
Before being elected to Congress, Ross served in the Arkansas Senate for 10 years, first winning election in 1990 at age 29.
Just think this dog squeeze will have his hand in your pocket the rest of his life, we need to means test congress and senator retirement.
So is there a total count of Democrats in both House & Senate who have declined to seek another term in 2012?
I don’t know the numbers, but I bet there will be a few more after this debt increase cluster...
Pryor's up in 2014....and by that time, the GOP will control the Senate, and with the 2014 elections, should get to a 60 seat majority..I think that Pryor will step down...and we can take the seat..
Obviously congressmen can be bought cheaply in AR.
Tony Weiner had $5 million.
George W. Bush received 51% of the vote in this district in 2004. John McCain swept the district in 2008 with 58.14% of the vote while Barack Obama received 39.33% here.
I haven’t seen info about a GOP candidate for 2012 yet, but at this news, there will probably be a mad dash.
Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.) will not seek an eighth term after a report published over the weekend indicated the Oregon Democrat had a sexual encounter with a teenager.
Illinois Representative Dave Winters announced he will not seek re-election in 2012
Republican Beth Anne Rankin gave him a run for his money last time and she was an unknown. She was endorsed by the Tea Party...
http://arconservativenews.net/2010/09/24/beth-anne-rankin-endorsed-by-tea-party/
http://twitter.com/#!/BethAnneRankin
Good. One less bastard in COngress.
“Obviously congressmen can be bought cheaply in AR.”
You get what you pay for...
“he wants to spend time with his family”
...BWAHAHAHAHA!! That line always cracks me up! There are few, if any dems who give a rats patoot about their family.
Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature… If the next centennial does not find us a great nation…it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.
Garfield nailed that.
Yes, he did.
I think Ross would survive reelection in 2012 since he doesn’t have a moonbat record like his former colleague from Little Rock, Vic Snyder, but he also probably doesn’t want to remain in the minority for the forseeable future. Running for Governor in ‘14 is an interesting move and probably the potential for him winning is based upon whom is elected President next year. The incumbent Dem Gov. Beebe is relatively popular, but it is effectively exclusive just to him, and I’d think just about any decent Republican nominated will win the office (probably the current GOP Lt Gov Mark Darr).
As for Mark Pryor, I think there will be enormous pressure on him to run for reelection depending upon the numbers in the Senate after 2012. He isn’t as unpopular as Blanche Lincoln was, but not as popular as Beebe. He will be difficult, but not impossible, to beat.
As for Ross’s open seat, I think we should be able to reclaim it (Jay Dickey would probably still be in it today had it not been for the personal vendetta of the Clintons to run him out back in 2000). We’re still somewhat weak in that area of the state with lesser GOP officeholders (probably just 2nd to the 1st district, which had virtually zero Republicans prior to 2010), but if we were able to win the 1st for the first time since Reconstruction, we should be able to get the 4th.
hes running for gov. Beebe has health problems.
Dave Winters of IL? Is he a state rep?
Here's why, IMHO..Pryor retires in 2014, even though he could probably win. GOP takes senate next year..will end up with 55+ seats..If you look at the 2014 races..there are 33, of which 20 are Dems...so the GOP will likely have a filibuster proof majority. The remaining Dems will be very liberal/hard left..so why woudl Pryor want to spend another 6 years there..Nope..he bails..
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