GOP's Darrell Issa Won't Run for Re-Election

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California says he won't seek re-election after serving out his ninth term in Congress. Issa's decision continues a string of GOP lawmakers who've decided to retire rather than take on what would be a difficult re-election battle. Democrats had made defeating Issa one of their top priorities in the midterm elections, per the AP. Issa is a longtime nemesis of the Democrats and then-President Obama. He once served as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and led investigations of the IRS as well as the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya.

"Throughout my service, I worked hard and never lost sight of the people our government is supposed to serve," Issa said in a statement, per the Washington Post. "Yet with the support of my family, I have decided that I will not seek re-election in California's 49th District." Issa would have faced a tough re-election fight. As Politico notes, he won by just 1,600 votes in 2016 as the demographics of his traditionally Republican district shifted. More evidence of that: Hillary Clinton, one of Issa's favorite targets, carried it by 7 percentage points in the presidential election. (More Darrell Issa stories.)