Rodney Frelinghuysen becomes eighth GOP committee chairman not to seek re-election

Frelinghuysen also becomes the eighth House committee chairman to step down, and his decision will likely add to worries that Republicans will lose control of the House in the November elections.

Democrats have to flip 24 seats to win back the House, and more than 40 House Republicans have either said they would not run again or sought out other jobs, including jobs in the Trump administration. That’s more than twice the number of Democrats who will step down.

Frelinghuysen was a key target of Democrats heading into November, and several Democrats have already touted possible runs for his seat even before Monday’s announcement. Although Frelinghuysen’s seat has been held by a Republican since the 1980s, President Trump narrowly beat Hillary Clinton in the district by 1 percentage point.

Democrats cheered the retirement news.

“After ducking his constituents for months, Representative Frelinghuysen has now denied them the chance to throw him out,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a statement. “His retirement comes as no surprise given his community’s disgust with this Republican Congress, which spent nearly all of last year throwing our healthcare system into chaos.”

But the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman said the GOP plans to hold onto the seat during the 2018 election. “This district has been held by a Republican since the 1980s, and we plan to keep it that way in November,” Steve Stivers said.

Frelinghuysen, who became chair of the House Appropriations Committee last year, didn’t cite a specific reason for retiring, but encouraged younger people to give public service a try.

“Public service is an incredible way to turn your convictions into something that serves the greater good and to do it alongside people from every walk of life and background,” he said. “That has certainly been my experience here in this House, and during my Army service in Vietnam.”