U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, three months after scrapping a long-planned Senate bid, announced plans on Wednesday to retire from a seat he has held for seven terms.
In a widely expected statement explaining why he would not seek re-election the 11th District this November, the Republican congressman said he would “take a sabbatical from public life” and return to the private sector.
“I have not yet decided what opportunities to pursue when I depart Congress,” he said. “But it’s clear to me that returning to the private sector and reacquainting myself with that view of the world is the best move for me and my family.”
Davis, considered a moderate, opted against running to replace outgoing Sen. John Warner in October after calculating the strength of the Democratic candidate – former Gov. Mark Warner – and after watching his party select a nomination process that favored the more conservative Jim Gilmore, also a former Virginia governor.
The defeat of his wife, state Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, in November also signaled that Davis may not run again.
His decision Wednesday, first confirmed by The Examiner Tuesday, leaves an open Republican field with no clear successor and two high-profile Democrats likely running for nomination in the increasingly left-leaning 11th District, as well as a third long-shot Democrat.
“I am confident we will keep this seat in Republican hands,” Davis said in his statement. “Voters in the 11th congressional district will be looking for the most honest and optimistic candidate out there.”
Responses came quickly from the two leading Democratic contenders – Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly, who has not formally declared, and former Rep. Leslie Byrne, whom Davis unseated in 1994.
Connolly, in a statement, thanked Davis for his “many years of service” but said the retirement “reminds us that a new day is dawning in Northern Virginia.” He promised to make an announcement on his candidacy shortly.
Byrne’s statement emphasized her clear ideological divide with Davis, criticizing him for voting against the proposed $146 billion economic stimulus package. She lauded him, however, for “his efforts on behalf of D.C. voting rights, funding for Metro and building a strong technology industry in Northern Virginia.”
