Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) announced he will not seek reelection when his term ends later this year, making him among the two-dozen members of the GOP to not seek reelection in the House.
“Serving East Tennesseans these past 11 years has been the honor of my life, and I will be forever grateful for the trust my friends and neighbors put in me to represent them. As someone who practiced medicine for over 30 years, I said I would serve five or six terms because I never intended this job to be a second career. After prayerful consideration, I have decided to retire at the end of the 116th Congress,” he said in a statement on Friday morning.
Roe, who will be 75 years old when his term ends, said that the “challenges we are facing now as complex as ever, and I still have a lot of fire in my belly” and added that he looks forward to “representing and working with President [Donald] Trump in favor of the free-market, conservative policies so many of us hold dear.”
He added: “Im proud of the bipartisan successes. They dont always make the headlines, but they are critical to our nations future. Legislation I authored has dramatically increased the availability of lifesaving epinephrine in schools for those who suffer from deadly food allergies; and the Desert Storm and Desert Shield War Memorial will be built on the National Mall in the coming years as a result of four years of effort to get my bill across the finish line.”
Tennessees 1st Congressional District likely will stay in Republican hands. In 2016, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by nearly 60 points.
According to poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight, before Roes announcement that he wouldnt seek reelection, he had a 99 out of 100 percent chance of winning, and it says his district “6th-most-Republican” in the United States.
“I will always cherish the frRead More – Source
