WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Rooney (R - Okeechobee) will not seek re-election, becoming the latest in a growing list of Republicans to not return to Congress.
“After what will be 10 years in the United States Congress representing the good people of Florida’s Heartland, it’s time to ‘hang em up’ as my old football coach used to say," Rooney said in a statement, as reported by multiple news outlets. "I will not be running for re-election to Congress in 2018. I want to thank my constituents for allowing me the opportunity to serve them in Washington."
Rooney was frustrated with the partisanship in Washington and was deeply affected by the shooting at the GOP Congressional baseball practice, according to our news partners at the Tampa Bay Times.
Rooney represents Florida's 17th Congressional District, which stretches east to west from Venice to Okeechobee and north to south from Lakeland to Fort Myers.
Rooney joins Tennessee's Bob Corker, Utah's Orrin Hatch and South Carolina's Trey Gowdy as Republicans who are retiring from Congress.
Read the rest of the Times article here.
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