DeLay Will Not Seek Re-election to Congress

The New York Times
DeLay Will Not Seek Re-election to Congress

WASHINGTON, April 3 — Representative Tom DeLay will announce on Tuesday that he will not seek re-election and will leave Congress within months, Congressional aides said Monday.

The aides said Mr. DeLay, a Texas Republican who has been swept into an election-year lobbying scandal, was calling Congressional leaders Monday night to inform them of his plans.

Mr. DeLay, 58, an 11-term congressman, stepped down temporarily as the House majority leader last fall after his indictment in Texas on campaign-related charges of money laundering.

In January, he said he was stepping aside from the job permanently to avoid becoming a political liability as Republicans face a determined Democratic challenge to their majority in the midterm elections.

The news of Mr. DeLay's decision broke on television stations about 10 Monday night. An article on the Time magazine Web site, based on an interview with Mr. DeLay earlier in the day, said he had "vowed to pursue an aggressive speaking and organizing campaign aimed at promoting foster care, Republican candidates and a closer connection between religion and government."