Powerful Republican Congresswoman Retiring

U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce, once the most powerful Republican woman in Congress but nearly a casualty of the 2006 Democratic surge, said Thursday she would not seek a ninth term.

The announcement confirmed reports of Pryce's departure and set both parties scrambling to replace her in one of the most competitive districts in the country.

Pryce, 56, said she has two elderly parents and a daughter who starts kindergarten next week.

"There's never a good time to leave a job you love, but for me the right time is now," she said in a news release.

Republicans could have trouble finding a top-flight candidate for an open seat in the competitive district. Attorney General Jim Petro and state Sen. Steve Stivers have been mentioned as possibilities.

Democrats are backing Mary Jo Kilroy, a Franklin County commissioner who lost to Pryce last year by 1,062 votes out of 220,000 cast. A recount delayed the outcome for weeks.

Next year's race had already attracted the attention of outside groups, and phone calls targeting Pryce, mainly for her support of President Bush and the Iraq War, hardly took a breather after last November's election.

Pryce, who last year faced the toughest race of her congressional career, rose to the No. 4 position in the GOP before it lost control in the 2006 election. Her decision means that of the four top House Republicans from that party's last majority, only Roy Blunt of Missouri, the GOP whip, will seek election next year.

Former Speaker Dennis Hastert plans to announce Friday that he would not seek re-election next year, party officials said, and in May, Rep. Ray LaHood said he was retiring after next year. Both are from Illinois. Former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, stepped down last year.

Even before Pryce's plans became known, Democrats saw her Columbus-based district as among the most competitive held by a Republican. An open seat will be even more difficult for Republicans to defend, but party activists say they will do so, arguing that Democrats already failed once — in 2006 — when many factors were in their favor.

Doug Thornell, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said: "Mary Jo Kilroy came within 1,055 votes of winning last cycle, and we expect this race to provide us with a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our majority."