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Virginia Rep. Tom Garrett reportedly not seek re-election: 'I'm an alcoholic'

By Madeline Fish | Fox News


Virginia Republican Rep. Tom Garrett reportedly announced he will not seek re-election due to a battle with alcoholism. (AP)


Virginia Republican Rep. Tom Garrett announced Monday he was not seeking re-election because of his ongoing battle with alcoholism, according to reports.

The announcement comes just three days after Garrett reassured voters he was not abandoning his run for a second term in Congress despite a week of turmoil, including reports he and his wife turned staffers into his own “personal servants.”

“Any person – Republican, Democrat or independent—who has known me for any period of time and has any integrity knows two things: I am a good man and I’m an alcoholic,” Garrett said, according to the Washington Post. “This is the hardest statement that I have ever publicly made by far. It’s also the truth.”

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Garrett, who represents the 5th District of Virginia, now joins the group of nearly 40 other Republicans who are not returning to Congress after the 2018 midterm elections.

Last week, the former Virginia state senator was accused of making Congressional staffers pick up groceries, chauffer his children and clean up after his dog, according to a report in Politico.

A spokesman, Matt Missen, said in a statement to Politico that the allegations were "unfounded".

Garrett was set to face Democratic challenger Leslie Cockburn, who reportedly has raised more money than the Republican incumbent.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/05/28/virginia-rep-tom-garrett-reportedly-not-seek-re-election-im-alcoholic.html