GOP Rep. LaTourette of Ohio not running again

Published July 31, 2012 12:53am ET



WASHINGTON (AP) — A nine-term Republican lawmaker and close confidant of House Speaker John Boehner, congressman Steven LaTourette of Ohio, has decided not to seek re-election.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett says that LaTourette has told him that he won’t be a candidate in November. Bennett wouldn’t comment on LaTourette’s reasons for retiring.

LaTourette has scheduled a news conference Tuesday at his district office in Painesville, Ohio.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that LaTourette decided to retire over a dispute with leadership on committee assignments.

LaTourette was elected to Congress during the GOP wave in 1994 when the party seized control of the House after decades in the minority. He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.