Politics /

Copied

New York Rep. Tom Reynolds became the 22nd House Republican to announce his retirement yesterday. Reynolds, a Dennis Hastert protégé once seen as a potential Speaker, was tainted by an embezzlement scandal on his watch as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “The last few years have not been fun for him,”  a GOP operative tells Politico.

Reynolds faced a stiff reelection fight in 2006 after he was implicated in the Mark Foley House page scandal, the Washington Post reports in a recap of his career. Reynolds' departure “will further depress an already-dejected House GOP conference,” and it's a blow to a party struggling to raise an adequate war chest, says Politico. The GOP has lost 7 House seats in New York state since 1996. (Read more House of Representatives stories.)