"Dump Dump Dump...Another on Bites the Dust": Pryce (R-OH) retiring

[Perky]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eight-term Rep. Deborah Pryce of Ohio will not seek re-election, GOP officials said Wednesday, making her the third prominent House Republican from the Midwest to announce retirement plans in recent days.

Pryce was her party's fourth-ranking leader before the GOP lost control in the 2006 election. She narrowly survived a challenge last fall from Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy.

Kilroy, a Franklin County commissioner, is running again in 2008, an election in which Democratic hopes run high because of voter disenchantment with President Bush and the Iraq war.

Democrats says they also will compete strongly for the seats being vacated by former Speaker Dennis Hastert and seven-term Rep. Ray LaHood, both of Illinois.

Pryce, 56, has scheduled a news conference for Thursday in Columbus. Top Republican officials in Ohio and Washington said she would announce plans to step down when her term ends next year.

One of the officials said the decision was largely a family matter for Pryce, the single parent of an adopted child.

With Pryce's and Hastert's departures, only one of the top four House Republican leaders from the GOP-controlled 109th Congress appears likely to seek election next year: Roy Blunt of Missouri, the GOP whip. Former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, stepped down last year.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CONGRESS_PRYCE?SITE=CATOR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-08-15-16-54-10

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. Any theories as to why?

Sex scandals (involving who?) Dirty money (in exchange for what?) Ties to criminal organizations other than the GOP itself (which ones?)

Inquiring minds want to know!

I very much doubt the official version. If she is a single parent of an adopted child, what the bloody hell has she been doing for the last 16 years in Congress?