WASHINGTON — Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., announced Thursday that he will not seek another term in office, becoming the latest member of the former GOP leadership team to step down in the past two years.
Reynolds is the fifth departing member of the Republican leadership team that ran the House with an iron fist for 12 years until Democrats took control in the 2006 election. His decision also was another blow to Republican chances against Democrats, who appear likely to widen their majority with more than two dozen GOP seats coming open this year.
Reynolds, who barely survived his 2006 re-election battle, appeared to be better positioned to retain his upstate New York district this time, but he has come under fire over his tenure as NRCC chairman in recent weeks. The committee last week accused its former treasurer, Christopher Ward, of diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars from NRCC coffers to his personal accounts in an alleged fraud scheme the committee said dates back to at least 2004.
