Hobson joins growing list of GOP retirees

Rep. David Hobson (R-Ohio) on Sunday evening became the latest House Republican to announce his retirement.

{mosads}Hobson is the third Ohio Republican to announce he would not seek reelection at the end of his current term, joining longtime Rep. Ralph Regula and Rep. Deborah Pryce. Another, Rep. Paul Gillmor, died recently, and a special election campaign is underway to replace him.

Hobson’s decision does not come as a surprise, but it does add another open seat for Republicans to defend. The lawmaker turns 71 this week and said he is in good health.

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) who entered Congress the same year as Hobson, said he would miss Hobson’s “commitment to service, his effective leadership, and his dry wit, but the Ohio delegation and the entire Congress will as well.” 

National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said the district would remain red. 

“Ohio’s 7th Congressional District is a strong Republican seat that will continue to elect candidates that fight to keep taxes low, the economy strong and the nation secure,” he said in a statement Sunday night. “We will be working with local activists and party leaders to send a candidate that fights for those same values back to Congress in 2008.”