LaTourette has scheduled a "major announcement" at 10 A.M. press conference in Painesville on Tuesday morning. His office would not discuss its subject but said "you shouldn't miss it."
LaTourette was unopposed in the March GOP primary, and was not deemed to have a strong strong opponent in November's election. The Democrat on the ballot against him is perennial candidate Dale Virgil Blanchard.
County Republican chairmen in the district LaTourette represents - which includes Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties and parts of Cuyahoga, Portage, Summit and Trumbull counties - will select his replacement on the ballot, Republicans said.
LaTourette, 58, was first elected to the House of Representatives in a 1994 election that swept Republicans into power for the first time in decades. The former Lake County prosecutor won his seat by defeating incumbent Democratic Rep. Eric Fingerhut.
He displayed an irreverent streak early on, inviting humor columnist Dave Barry to serve as a temporary press aide . He also established a centrist voting record that kept him from being targeted for defeat by organized labor.
A recent voting evaluation by National Journal magazine cited LaTourette as the second most liberal Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, behind North Carolinas Walter Jones.
High profile breaks with his party have included opposing the TARP bank rescue program and backing extended unemployment benefits during the recession. When a congressional "supercommittee" wrestled with a plan to cut the federal budget deficit, LaTourette was among a bipartisan group of 100 Congress members who sent them a letter that said nothing including tax increases should be off the table.LaTourette helped establish an arbitration process that saved hundreds of auto dealers that were scheduled to close after the federal government bailed out General Motors and Chrysler. When Clevelands Defense Finance and Accounting Service office was in danger of closing during a military base consolidation process, LaTourette led efforts to save it.
LaTourette is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, which directs federal spending. His ability to use that post to steer money to Ohio projects has been hampered by a recent ban on congressional earmarks.
A close ally of House Speaker John Boehner, LaTourette served as the congressional liaison to Republicans in Columbus who redrew the new congressional district lines. He has said the the new lines of his district encompass a "swing" territory that could elect a Republican or a Democrat, unlike many districts that were drawn to favor one party or the other.
Welcome news...maybe. Depends on who the party orgs put up to replace him...might just be the same story over again or worse. WaPo article on the same thing called him “one of the few moderate Republicans left in the House”...if only that were true. The good news is that the Dems’ already chose their candidate as a token candidate as they were expecting to have LaTourette as an unbeatable oppenent...so the GOP will likely still win the seat if they pick a decent candidate.
It’s about time that f^%#head, s(#$head, j(*$off, arsehole, c*nt, etc. left Congress.
Sorry, that’s my LaTourette’s kicking up again.
Awfully late to bail out now. Was he caught in bed with a boy?
Will his seat go republican or to the party of the ass?
LLS
If his replacement turns out to be a conservative, even though his replacement would be a Republican this could be considered a pick-up based on this joker’s voting record.
He’s my rep - good riddance. Since I’m not a party member I’ve no idea who they’ll plug in to take his place, but I may drop a line to the local tea types to see if they know...hell might even throw my hat in the ring...lol
Any guess as to who will replace LaTourette on the ballot?
I suppose it won’t be too long now till we see him on MSNBC bashing Conservatives.
At last, I had time to borrow a computer.
There are four names being mentioned as possible GOP nominees for this race. They are Geauga County DA David Joyce, former state Representative Matthew Dolan, Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jack Schron, and Lake County Recorder Jason Wuliger. They all sound credible, but I know nothing about them.
The district is an urban/suburban district that where Obama and McCain ran essentially even in 2008.