Is David Hobson The Next House Republican To Retire?

Following the retirement of announcement by longtime Republican Rep. Ralph Regula (Ohio) on Friday, speculation has now intensified over whether his fellow Ohioan, Rep. David Hobson (R) will also step down at the end of the 110th Congress.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer says Hobson "is also weighing departure," and reporters have been pressing Hobson during the last several days for a definitive statement on his political plans, and they have not been able to get that so far, according to House insiders on both sides of the aisle.

Hobson, who is his ninth term, turns 71 this week (Oct. 17), and the departure from the Ohio delegation of Regula and Rep. Deborah Pryce (R), as well as the recent death of Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio), has him thinking hard about what he wants to do.

Hobson remains a key GOP player on the powerful Appropriations Committee, where he serves as the ranking member of the Energy and Water subcommittee, as well as having a seat on the Defense panel, a choice assignment.

The Plain Dealer calls Hobson's 7th District seat "reliably Republican," so that is not a concern for Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the National Republican Congressional Committee, but what does it say about Boehner if three Republicans from his own state retire in the same cycle?