Two moderate members of the U.S. House of Representatives announced their retirements Tuesday, providing pick-up opportunities for the opposing parties while further thinning Congress' already diminished center.
One of those retirements also opens the window for a candidate who, if elected, would be the first black Republican woman in Congress.
Republican Rep. Frank Wolf (pictured), the well-respected dean of the Virginia delegation and a member of the Appropriations Committee, said he will not seek an 18th term next year, becoming the seventh GOP member to announce his retirement this year. Wolf’s Northern Virginia seat has long been elusive for Democrats, despite its purple hue and location in the growing Washington, D.C., exurbs.
Mitt Romney edged Barack Obama in Wolf’s district, 50 percent to 49 percent, four years after Obama won there by a margin of 51 percent to 48 percent. But Democratic hopes for that pickup opportunity were counterbalanced later on Tuesday when Jim Matheson, the Utah delegation’s lone Democrat, announced he will not seek a eighth term.
Matheson is a member of a dying breed of fiscally conservative Democrats in the House -- known as the Blue Dog Coalition -- that saw half its members knocked out in 2010 and more in 2012. Matheson is consistently a top target for Republicans, and no stranger to tough re-election bids: He kept his seat in 2012 by just 768 votes.
But repeating that success in 2014 appeared to be another uphill battle, given the president’s sinking approval numbers, low congressional grades and the redness of the district, where Romney won by 37 percentage points in 2012. Matheson often breaks with his party on votes, especially when it comes to the health care law. The Utah congressman voted against its passage in 2010 and has joined Republican repeal efforts over the years.
“This is a warning signal to Democrats coast to coast,” National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Greg Walden said, arguing that the Affordable Care Act is an albatross for vulnerable Democrats. “It’s telling that Matheson, who didn’t even vote for Obamacare’s original passage, knows he can’t run and win in this climate.”
Mia Love, the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, had already announced her plans to challenge Matheson again, having lost to him by just one percentage point last year. Love is considered a rising GOP star and was given a top speaking spot at the party’s nominating convention in Tampa. If elected, she would be the first black Republican woman to serve in Congress.
“When I launched my first campaign in 1999, I knew that the arc of my public service would have many chapters,” Matheson said in announcing his retirement. “I take the role of representative seriously and intend to conclude this chapter of my service to our state in the same way I have always approached my job.”
Unlike Matheson, Wolf, first elected to Congress as part of the Ronald Reagan wave in 1980, hasn’t had much trouble winning re-election, despite toughening challenges in recent years. Since 1984, he has pulled at least 57 percent of the vote, winning in 2012 with 59 percent. But his seat is located in Loudoun County, a key Northern Virginia swing district that has been increasingly trending Democratic with increases in the immigrant population, tech jobs, and transportation projects.
Wolf has been considered a centrist and drew praise from Virginia’s two Democratic senators upon announcing his retirement.
The congressman has long been involved in humanitarian efforts, and is co-chairman of Congress’ Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Wolf said he will continue his work on related issues after stepping down. “I plan to focus my future work on human rights and religious freedom -- both domestic and international -- as well as matters of the culture and the American family,” he said. “My passion for these issues has been influenced by the examples of President Ronald Reagan, former Congressmen Jack Kemp and Tony Hall, Chuck Colson, and the life of [18th/19th century] Member of Parliament William Wilberforce.”
Democrats hope to capitalize on their party’s recent wins in the Old Dominion, the failed efforts of conservative candidates there, and the effects that the government shutdown and sequester cuts had in Northern Virginia, home to many federal workers and defense contractors. “With more irresponsible brinksmanship on the horizon, it’s no wonder that Frank Wolf is choosing to leave Congress rather than defend his party’s record of failing on jobs, failing to work together and failing to protect seniors,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Executive Director Kelly Ward.
Possible Republican candidates for Wolf’s seat include state Del. Barbara Comstock (a former aide to Wolf) and Artur Davis, a black Republican from Alabama who switched parties last year and moved to Virginia. Democratic Attorney Richard Bolger is already running for the seat.
