Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., the former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, announced Thursday that he is retiring from office.

Who is Tom Reynolds? Hang on. What's this got to do with Maine? Nothing really, but it shows how tough the political landscape is for congressional GOP candidates this year.

Reynolds, the former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is the 29th lawmaker to retire or leave office this year; only six Democrats are retiring this year. (In 1992, 67 lawmakers left Congress, in part, because it was the last year campaign finance laws allowed lawmakers to pocket their campaign war chests).

That means in 2008 Republicans are faced with winning 29 open seats, which normally are much harder elections to win. Given the number of open seats the NRCC has to defend, it will be tough for the Republicans can recapture the House.

Back to Reynolds. The burly Erie County lawmaker has had a rough go of it - some of his own making - during the past few years.

In 2004, under his leadership at the NRCC, Republicans picked up four House seats. While only one GOP incumbent lost that year, Tom DeLay, then the GOP majority leader, orchestrated a mid-decade redistricting plan, which helped five Republicans defeat all but one white Democrat in the state.

In 2006, the Republicans lost their majority in the House. Reynolds was told by a Louisiana lawmaker that former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., had sent inappropriate emails and instant messages to a former male page. Reynolds said he told former Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., but nobody in the GOP leadership tried to force Foley to resign.

Now, The Politico reported earlier this month that the NRCC's treasurer allegedly began stealing hundreds of thousands from the organization in 2003 when Reynolds began his tenure. The FBI is investigating.

Reynolds spent all of 2006 repeating the mantra that "all politics is local." He was right in one case - his own. A freak snowstorm hit Buffalo in October. Reynolds called for federal assistance; his multi-millionaire opponent said that was silly. Reynolds won.

E-mail this entry to a friend