Rep. McCrery will not seek reelection

Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.) announced Friday he will not seek reelection in 2008.

“Twenty years is a long time to serve in Congress,” McCrery said in a statement. “I believe it is time for me to step aside and let someone with fresh enthusiasm and new ideas step in to represent the 4th district.”

{mosads}McCrery, the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, contemplated not seeking reelection in 2004 because of family reasons. But he did seek another term that year after he sold his Louisiana house and moved his wife and two sons to the Washington, D.C. area.

In his Friday statement, the 58-year old attributed his decision to his inability to chair the Ways and Means Committee due to the outcome of the 2006 election and with the time spent in Washington away from his family.

McCrery announced in June that he was planning to move his family back to Shreveport.

“The chairmanship would have allowed me to play a leading role in addressing some of the biggest long-term problems facing our country,” he said. “I have tried hard this year as the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee to be a major influence on important issues. Chairman (Charles) Rangel (D-N.Y.) and I have developed a very good working relationship and we have had some success in developing bipartisan solutions, specifically in the area of trade. But on tax reform, Medicare and healthcare reform, and Social Security reform, our best efforts have come to naught.”

He added, “So, given that disappointment and my desire to more fully enjoy the last few years my boys will be at home, I will not seek reelection to the Congress in 2008.”

Reps. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) and Dave Camp (R-Mich.) are the next Republicans in the seniority line on Ways and Means. Behind them are retiring Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.) and Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas).

Republicans will be favored to retain McCrery's seat.

McCrery, won his first term in the fall of 1988, has over $960,000 cash on hand in his personal campaign account and more than $$323,000 in his PAC.

He is the 18th House Republican who will not seek reelection next year.