WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Representative Fred Upton on Tuesday said he will retire from Congress, marking the latest political exit by a Republican lawmaker who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump.
“Even the best stories (have) a last chapter. This is it for me,” the Michigan Republican said in a statement delivered from the U.S. House of Representatives floor.
“I’ve signed over a million letters, cast more votes while in the chamber here and accomplished what I set out to do with more unfinished work still yet to come,” added Upton, whose current term ends this year.
Upton, 68, was one of 10 Republican House members who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump after the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol. He is the fourth of them to decide against seeking re-election.
“4 down and 6 to go,” Trump said in a statement referring to Upton’s departure
Upton was an early critic of Trump’s false claims that he lost the November presidential election due to widespread fraud and has said his vote for impeachment was to “send a clear message” that the United States will not tolerate a president impeding the peaceful transfer of power.
Trump initially endorsed Michigan state lawmaker Steve Carra’s bid to challenge Upton. Then, after Michigan drew new House district boundaries that put Upton in the same district as Republican Representative Bill Huizenga, Trump endorsed Huizenga and Carra ended his campaign.
(Reporting by Jason Lange and Susan Heavey; additional reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Tim Ahmann, David Gregorio and Jonathan Oatis)
