GOP Rep. Walsh Retires, Leaves Open Battleground New York District

[Ron Burgundy]

CQPolitics.com - Republican Rep. James T. Walsh, the 10-term House incumbent from New York's politically competitive 25th Congressional District, announced Thursday that he will retire at the end of his current term.

Walsh's decision not to seek re-election will heighten the Democrats' efforts to take over the seat in New York's 25th District, where in 2006 Walsh narrowly survived his most serious House challenge ever.

With 2006 Democratic nominee Dan Maffei, a former congressional aide, back for another try this year, Walsh's retirement decision has prompted CQ Politics to change its rating on the race to No Clear Favorite from Leans Republican -- pending developments in the Republican field of candidates to succeed Walsh.

Voters in the 25th District narrowly favored Democrat John Kerry over President George W. Bush. That makes it one of only eight House districts nationally that are represented by Republicans but gave Kerry more votes for president than Bush.

The retirement also increases the lopsided disadvantage in "open" seats that has made it more difficult for the Republicans to seriously compete to regain the control of the U.S. House that they lost to the Democrats in the 2006 midterm elections. The GOP will now have 20 open House seats for the general election to just five for the Democrats (figures that don't include the five currently vacant or soon-to-be-vacated House seats, four held by Republicans and one by Democrats, which will be filled in special elections before the fall campaigns).

Along with the electoral machinations, there is a significant legislative impact from Walsh's retirement: It will open a fifth Republican seat on the influential House Appropriations Committee.

Walsh said he notified the House Republican leadership about his decision not long before publicizing it, adding, "It's easier to get forgiveness ... than permission."

Walsh's decision to step aside obviates the expected rematch he would have faced against Maffei, who in his 2006 debut as a candidate lost to the longtime incumbent by 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent. Maffei has been running nearly non-stop since his narrow defeat.

Walsh cited that difficult race as one impetus for reassessing his future. "It made me focus on where I was in my career," he said during his retirement announcement.

That came in a news conference at his district office in Syracuse. Walsh read a statement in which he told district voters it had been "an awesome privilege to serve you, to fight for you, and to represent you both in City Hall [a reference to his past service as a council member] and in our nation's Capitol."

Walsh said, "After nearly 20 years in Washington and over 30 years of public service to my community, the time has come for me to step away from elective office."

Walsh, who was first elected in 1988 and turned 60 years old, stated, "I have always said that politics is not my life, it is just part of my life. And now, at the end of this term of Congress, that part will be over."

"I just feel like I did my part, I ran my part of the race," he added. "It's up to somebody else now."

In summarizing his 20 years in Congress, Walsh pointed to several key accomplishments: helping provide resources to revitalize the old industrial city of Syracuse, cleaning up the region's Onondoga Lake, keeping the 174th Air National Guard unit in Syracuse and participating in the talks that brought a resolution to the sectarian violence that had long plagued Northern Ireland. With his time left in office, Walsh said he intended to focus on improving Syracuse's public school system.

Walsh said his own future remained unsettled, saying he had "no idea" what his next step would be. "I really don't, and I know that gives my wife some degree of unsettlement," he said with a laugh, although he precluded any future runs for office.

Walsh said he looked forward to leading "as normal a life as possible," adding that the retirement decision ultimately was made with his family. "No matter when I say enough is enough, there's always another race to be won. And at some point, you just say, 'Not this race,'" he told reporters at the news conference.

Walsh and Maffei spent more than $2.7 million dollars combined in the 2006 race, and a 2008 matchup between the two would have again been expensive. Walsh had raised $604,000 and had $456,000 on hand as of Sept. 30, the latest official figures available, while Maffei had raised $348,000 and had $314,000 on hand. Year-end fundraising figures are due to be filed with the Federal Election Commission by all candidates for federal office no later than Jan. 31.

Walsh said Thursday that he intended to distribute his campaign funds to the national and local Republican Party organizations, and that he planned to endorse the Republican nominee for his seat when he or she emerges.

Ryan McMahon, a banker who is in his second term on the part-time Syracuse Common Council, told CQ Politics he was "definitely interested in exploring the race" for the Republican nomination. McMahon currently the only Republican on that panel, on which Walsh served from 1978 to 1988.

Several other prominent local Republicans have had their names mentioned as potential candidates in the wake of Walsh's announcement. They include Syracuse Mayor Matthew J. Driscoll, who said he had been contacted about running but that he was not ready to comment on the race; Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick; Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks; former Onondaga County legislator Dale Sweetland; former Syracuse Mayor Roy Bernardi, a deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and lawyer Peter Cappuccilli Jr., the former director of the New York State Fair.

Walsh suggested that his exit from the field would also draw more candidates into the race for the Democratic nomination, in which Maffei had not received a major challenge to his bid for a rematch with Walsh. "I suspect there's going to be a lot of interest on both sides," Walsh said.

The bulk of the vote in the 25th District comes from Onondaga County, which includes Syracuse and which voted decidedly Democratic in the 2004 presidential election. Wayne County, which is on Lake Ontario west of Syracuse, has a Republican orientation, as do the 25th's portions of Cayuga and Monroe counties.

With reporting by CQ Politics' Greg Giroux.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20080125/pl_cq_politics/politics2660234 [link]