Good Grief. Are there gonna be any Red CDs left in the the Northeast? Tom Reynolds retiring

[Perky]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0308/Reynolds_is_now_on_retirement_watch_list.html

Tom Reynolds expected to announce retirement on Thursday


Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.) has scheduled a noon press conference on Thursday, and GOP insiders say the veteran lawmaker is going to announce his retirement from Congress, effective at the end of this year.

Reynolds is now the 29th House Republican to retire, and his departure puts another winnable seat in play for Democrats. Another GOP incumbent, Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (Md.), was defeated in a Republican primary.

Only six Democrats have announced that they will leave office, while Rep. Al Wynn (D-Md.) was defeated in a Democratic primary. Wynn's seat is expected to remain in Democratic hands, however.

Reynolds has been hammered in recent weeks over an accounting scandal at the National Republican Congressional Committee, an episode that apparently began when he was chairing the committee. The NRCC believes that its former treasurer, Christopher J. Ward, may have embezzled several hundred thousand dollars beginning in 2003, Reynolds' first year as chairman. Ward, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing, is the focus of a criminal probe by the FBI. Sources say he may have diverted as much as $1 million from the NRCC and other GOP campaigns and PACs with which he was affiliated.

Reynolds, who barely survived a tough re-election battle last cycle, was first elected to the House in 1998 after more than two decades as a county and state elected official in New York, rising to the post of Republican leader in the New York State Assembly. Given a prized seat on the Rules Committee as a freshman, Reynolds was admired within the GOP Conference for his political acumen and judgment. He was elected head of the NRCC in 2003, serving two terms in that post, and he was even seen by some Republicans as a potential replacement for former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) whenHastert lefft office.

But Reynolds' reputation was tarnished among his fellow GOP lawmakers when Republicans lost control of the House during his second term at the NRCC, and the accounting scandal at the committee has further damaged his standing.



Reynolds was also hurt politically last cycle when he got caught up in the scandal surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley's (R-Fla.) inappropriate contacts with teenage male House pages. Reynolds was told by another lawmaker, Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), about sexually provocative e-mails that Foley was exchanging with the pages. Reynolds said he told Hastert about the Foley e-mails, but he did not press Hastert to force Foley out of office. Reynolds former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, who also served in the same role for Foley, resigned from the New York Republican's office once the Foley scandal went public. Reynolds later aired a campaign ad apologizing for his role in the scandal, but he nearly lost to Democrat Jack Davis that November.

Reynolds' departure would be another serious blow to Empire State Republicans, who already face a difficult cycle. Rep. James Walsh (R-N.Y.) has announced he will be retiring at the end of this year, and both these open seats will be targeted as potential pickups for Democrats.

Democratic candidate John Powers, a schoolteacher and Iraq war veteran, is already running for the 26th District seat now being vacated by Reynolds, although other Democrats -- including Davis -- may get into the race now that the incumbent is stepping down.

[cali]

1. Well, gotta get rid of Shays in CT

the Maine ladies and the NH men and then all of New England will be repuke free in the Congress. The Northeast as a whole needs a bit more work.

[Perky]

2. Shays barely one last time

Iwas only referring to the House.


We should know down Sununu and Collins this term and Get Gregg and Snowe at some point. And that pesk little problem in Connecticut.

Talk about the Red SOuth. Look at the Blue North. It is all Blue from Aroostook County clear out to Erie and down I-95 to Fairfax County, VA.