Free Republic

U.S. Rep. Todd Platts' announcement Tuesday that he would not seek reelection this year could not have come at a worse time for ambitious Republicans and combative Democrats. ... Retired Penn State University political science professor Michael Young agreed that Platts’ district is still too Republican for a Democrat to compete. “It’s 10 years away from being a truly competitive district” for Democrats, Young said. “It’s so packed [full of Republicans] that Democrats don’t have much incentive to put a whole lot of resources into it.” That assessment acknowledges that the district has become less Republican through last year’s redistricting....

A six-term Pennsylvania congressman said Tuesday he would not seek a seventh term, calling himself a believer in term limits. Republican U.S. Rep. Todd Platts said he planned to “remain an engaged servant of the people” through the end of the year. Platts, 49, said he has sponsored bills that would have capped terms at 12 years since he arrived in Congress in 2001. His south-central Pennsylvania district is reliably Republican, and Platts, a York native, was a formidable campaigner, thanks to a dedicated cadre of family, friends and other longtime supporters. Platts’ district includes York and Adams counties and...

As many ponder the fate of 245 detainees at the soon-to-be-shuttered prison at Guantanamo Bay, the York County commissioners are open to the idea of holding some at the York County Prison, a facility that already holds about 700 federal detainees each day. (snip) York County's Republican congressman, Todd Platts, has spoken out against the relocation of the Guantanamo Bay detainees to Pennsylvania. But the county's history of holding federal detainees goes back years,and the partnership has yielded benefits for both sides. The federal government has turned the prison into one of the larger immigration detention centers in the country,...