DeLay won't seek re-election

2006-04-04 11:00

Washington - Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texan touched by a lobbying scandal that ensnared some of his former top aides and cost the Republican his leadership post, will not seek re-election to Congress and intends to resign, Republican officials said.

They said DeLay would leave his seat in May or June.

It was not clear whether or how DeLay could remove his name from the November ballot, but if he did, party officials would presumably be able to select a replacement who could then run against Democratic nominee Nick Lampson.

It is unclear when DeLay reached his decision, but one official said on Monday he began informing close associates late last week. That was around the same time as a second former aide, Tony Rudy, pleaded guilty in a federal corruption investigation that has reached into DeLay's office.

DeLay was expected to disclose his plans on Tuesday at a news conference in Houston, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the congressman had not yet made that announcement.

Several officials said DeLay, an 11-term congressman, called Texas members of Congress to tell them he was abandoning his re-election race.

Internal polling results

"He'll resign," a former senior DeLay aide said.

In an interview with The Galveston County Daily News in Texas, DeLay said his decision was based partly on troubling internal polling results, including a poll taken after the March Republican primary that showed him narrowly ahead of Lampson.

"Even though I thought I could win, it was a little too risky," DeLay told the Galveston paper.

House Majority Leader John Boehner called his predecessor "one of the most effective and gifted leaders the Republican Party has ever known."

"He has served our nation with integrity and honour, and I'm honoured to call him my colleague and friend," Boehner said.

Corruption scandal

DeLay relinquished the post as House majority leader last fall upon his indictment in Texas and decided in January against trying to get the leadership post back as an election-year corruption scandal staggered Republicans and emboldened minority Democrats.

A Texas grand jury indicted DeLay on charges related to laundering campaign funds in a Republican bid to win control of the Texas legislature in the 2002 elections. He is accused of funnelling corporate donations to Republican candidates for the Texas House in violation of state laws.

Republicans that year took control of the state House, leading to a redistricting plan that also allowed the party to win a majority of seats in Texas' congressional delegation in 2004, and strengthen control of the US House of Representatives.

- AP