U.S. Rep. Joe Scarborough, ending months of personal soul-searching and speculation about his political future, plans to announce today his resignation from Congress. The Pensacolian, who won the Republican primary with an overwhelming 78 percent of the vote just last September, has scheduled a press conference for 2 p.m. in downtown's Bartram Park. He declined on Thursday to discuss what he plans to say, but a friend who did not want to be identified said he will resign from Congress in two weeks.
Scarborough, 38, was elected in the historic 1994 landslide that gave Republicans control of the House and Senate for the first time in 40 years. But in the last two years, he repeatedly has expressed his frustration with Washington politics. He also has said that a chronic back problem creates a constant strain, and, most particularly, he wants to spend more time with his two sons, now 13 and 10.