Pete King Becomes Latest GOP Rep To Announce Retirement

The veteran Long Island congressman joins nearly 20 House Republicans who will not seek reelection in 2020.
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Longtime GOP Rep. Pete King (N.Y.) will not seek reelection in 2020 after more than 25 years in Congress, he announced Monday.

“I have decided not to be a candidate for re-election to Congress in 2020,” King wrote in a Facebook post, citing his family. “The prime reason for my decision was that after 28 years of spending 4 days a week in Washington, D.C., it is time to end the weekly commute and be home in Seaford.”

He joins nearly 20 Republicans who have announced their departures ahead of next year’s election.

King has long dominated his Long Island district, which leans Republican. But in 2018, he won reelection by his narrowest margin since his 1992 election, defeating Democratic challenger Liuba Grechen Shirley by just 6 percentage points.

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