Thread: Rep. Gallegly to retire

thehill.com
By Peter Schroeder
01/07/12 12:40 PM ET

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) has announced he will not seek reelection in 2012, and will instead retire after 25 years in Congress.

In a statement issued Saturday, Gallegly said he and his wife had decided "now was the right time to begin the next chapter in our lives."

Working with our country’s leadership on a daily basis in striving to move toward a better, stronger and more vibrant America for more than two decades has been a dream come true," he said in a statement, according to the Ventura Country Star. "The decision to step aside at this time did not come lightly."

Gallegly did not mention it in his statement, but redistricting likely played a role in his decision to step aside. After California's legislature drew up new congressional maps, Gallegly found his home residing in the district currently held by Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee.

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.), who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, praised Gallegly for his decades of service.

"The House of Representatives will miss Elton’s service, expertise and experience as he concludes his congressional work after this Congress," he said in a statement. "I wish Elton, his wife Janice and their family all the best."

Gallegly is the vice chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and heads the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on immigration, where he has carved out a niche as a strong opponent of illegal immigration.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...egly-to-retire

washingtonpost.com
By Associated Press,
Updated: Saturday, January 7, 2:49 PM

LOS ANGELES — U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly, who has represented California’s Ventura County for 25 years, said Saturday he won’t seek re-election and will retire at the end of the current Congress.

New maps approved last year by the state’s independent redistricting commission had placed the 67-year-old Gallegly in the same district as Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, a fellow Republican who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Gallegly could have taken on McKeon or tried to win an adjacent district that is decidedly more Democratic and Latino.

Instead, he announced in a written statement that he and his wife are looking forward to spending more time with their family and friends.

“Working with our country’s leadership on a daily basis in striving to move toward a better, stronger and more vibrant America for more than two decades has been a dream come true,” Gallegly said. “The decision to step aside at this time did not come lightly.”

A former real estate broker, Gallegly was elected to Simi Valley’s City Council in 1979 and later became the city’s mayor. He ran for Congress in 1986 and was re-elected 12 times. He now serves as the chairman the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement and as vice chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee,

Gallegly said last year he didn’t understand the logic behind some of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission’s moves in determining which communities landed in which districts.

Voters approved the citizen-led commission to create California’s legislative and congressional districts in response to decades of gerrymandering by lawmakers that preserved districts for incumbents and the parties.

“As bad as the process has been in the past, at least the politicians that were drawing the lines had to stand up and be accountable for them,” Gallegly said in June. “At this point, the commissioners don’t.”

Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, praised Gallegly’s service on Capitol Hill.

“Elton has helped make America safer through his tireless work for national security, border security, and support for the military and veterans in his district and around the world,” he said in a statement.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...HhP_story.html