By Jesse Liebman --
March 5, 2010
U.S. Rep. William D. Delahunt is expected to announce Friday that he will not be seeking re-election to Congress, ending a 40-year career in elected office, and giving Republicans hope of capturing the 10th district.
"The decision had nothing to do with politics," the seven-term Democrat said in a statement Thursday night. "I've been wrestling with this decision for a while."
Delahunt, 68, was favored to win re-election in a district that includes Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Instead, his retirement will be the 17th among House Democrats this year.
Prior to his election to his House seat, Delahunt was a county district attorney in Massachusetts. He faced questions recently about his tenure in that post because of the office's handling of the 1986 shooting death of the brother of Amy Bishop, the University of Alabama college professor accused of killing three colleagues last month.
Bishop killed her brother in a shooting that was ruled accidental.
But the case has nothing to do with his choice to retire, Delahunt said. Several friends and associates confirmed that Delahunt had been considering his departure for years.
Many Democrats - including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House majority leader Steny Hoyer - begged Delahunt to stay another term, worried that the unpredictable campaign situation could give the GOP a possibility at the seat. Joseph P. Kennedy III's decision earlier this week not to seek the seat makes Democrats even more nervous. But the congressman said he is "confident it will stay Democratic.''
Although known as one of the House's most passionate and dependable liberals, Delahunt has developed several close relationships with Republicans; a 2009 survey of House members listed Delahunt as among the top 10 most bipartisan Democrats in the chamber.
Among Republicans, state Representative Jeffrey D. Perry of Sandwich has said he intends to run for the seat, and former state treasurer Joseph D. Malone and state Senator Robert Hedlund of Weymouth are said to be mulling a run. On the Democratic side, Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating, state Senator Robert O'Leary of Barnstable, and former insurance company executive Philip J. Edmundson are considering campaigns.
