Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Fred Keller said he will not run for reelection due to redistricting pitting him against a fellow Republican, changing his mind about running less than a week after announcing a bid for the new 9th Congressional District.
His decision comes as the new congressional district map in Pennsylvania, adopted by the state Supreme Court last week, would have put him in the same district as Rep. Dan Meuser.
“With control of Congress — and the direction of our nation — at stake, this election is bigger than any one person. Rather than pit Republicans against Republicans, which the congressional map chosen by the liberal Pennsylvania Supreme Court does, I am committed to helping take back the House, holding Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat, and electing a conservative Governor,” Keller said in a statement. “To that end, I am not going to run against another member of Pennsylvania’s Republican Congressional Delegation.”
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Keller, 56, was elected to Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District in 2018. Before that, he was a state representative.
Keller’s announcement is an abrupt change of heart, coming less than a week after he announced that he would run in the new 9th District, a rural district that covers an area between Harrisburg and Scranton.
I am fully committed to taking back the House from Nancy Pelosi and putting Pennsylvania first. That is why I am announcing I’m running for re-election in the new 9th Congressional District and ensure that the voters, not partisan judges, pick their representative in Washington.
— Fred Keller (@VoteFredKeller) February 23, 2022
He remained committed, though, to challenging the map approved by the state Supreme Court, which Pennsylvania Republicans argue is unconstitutional.
“The liberal Pennsylvania Supreme Court did the Commonwealth a great injustice when it once again overstepped its authority and selected a partisan map favoring Democrats,” Keller said. Make no mistake, this map — submitted by a national Democrat group — intends to diminish the voices of conservative voters in central and northeast Pennsylvania.”
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Keller was not the only member of Congress to announce his resignation Monday. Democratic Florida Rep. Ted Deutch said Monday that he will retire from Congress, marking the 31st Democrat to announce that they are not seeking reelection.
On the Republican side, Keller marks the 14th House Republican not running for reelection.
