Rep. John Katko said today he will retire from Congress at the end of his term this year and won’t seek re-election in November.
Katko, R-Camillus, disclosed his plans to forego a bid for a fifth term in a letter sent today to Republican committee members and supporters.
Rumors of Katko’s retirement plans had circulated around Capitol Hill as he became a target of former president Donald Trump and his network of supporters over the past year.
Katko’s campaign had denied the retirement rumors and pointed to his fundraising for the 2022 campaign. He had more than $1.2 million cash on hand as of Oct. 1. It was Katko’s personal best fundraising quarter in a non-election year.
Three Republicans had already declared their intention to challenge Katko in a GOP primary in June, but none had come close to matching his fundraising for the campaign.
In his letter today, Katko said he wants to spend more time with his family after a “gut-wrenching” three years in which he and his wife buried all four of their parents.
“That’s why after 32 years of public service, I have decided not to seek re-election to Congress, so that I can enjoy my family and life in a fuller and more present way,” Katko wrote.
“My conscience, principles, and commitment to do what’s right have guided every decision I’ve made as a member of Congress, and they guide my decision today,” Katko wrote. “It is how I’ve been able to unite people to solve problems, and how I was rewarded with resounding victories in every single campaign for Congress.”
In the past year, Katko also had to deal with the strongest criticism of his political career from fellow Republicans who never forgave him for voting to impeach Trump.
Trump offered to help support a Katko opponent as payback for his vote to impeach the former president for inciting the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Katko was one of only 10 House Republicans who broke ranks on the impeachment vote. He becomes the third of the 10 members to announce his retirement, joining Reps. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio.
Trump reacted Friday to Katko’s announcement with a brief statement: “Great news, another one bites the dust. Katko, from Upstate New York, is gone!”
One of the Republicans seeking Trump’s support to challenge Katko filed as a candidate with the Federal Election Commission last week. Andrew McCarthy, 35, a Defense Department intelligence analyst, said he would tap into Trump’s network of political and financial supporters.
The other two Republicans who launched campaigns against Katko are Tim Ko, 56, of DeWitt, a physician assistant in neurosurgery at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, and John Murtari, 64, a software engineer from Lyons in Wayne County.
Even if he won a GOP primary, Katko faced the uncertainty of running for reelection in a vastly different congressional district.
Both Democratic and Republican members of New York’s Independent Redistricting Commission proposed new district boundaries that would merge large parts of Katko’s 24th Congressional District with Rep. Claudia Tenney’s 22nd Congressional District.
All of the proposed maps were rejected this week by the state Assembly and Senate, giving the commission 15 days to come up with a new plan.
Trump said he would back Tenney, R-New Hartford, over Katko if the two had to face off in a GOP primary election.
Katko, 59, has developed a reputation as one of the leading GOP moderates on Capitol Hill. He chairs the Republican Governance Group, a caucus of about 30 moderate House Republicans.
Katko also served as a prominent member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of Republicans and Democrats committed to finding bipartisan solutions.
He has one of the least partisan voting records among Republicans in Congress and frequently split with the GOP on major issues.
Katko refused to go along with Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement. In 2017, he was among nine Republicans to break ranks and voted against a GOP bill to repeal the health care law.
He also angered some local Republican and conservative leaders in the past year by voting to rebuke Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., over her racist and violent rhetoric and for supporting a bill to expand legal protections for LGBTQ Americans.
Katko was among only three House Republicans to vote for the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
After the impeachment vote, the Onondaga County Conservative Party said it would not offer Katko its ballot line again because “he no longer accepts or supports the values we hold dear.”
Katko had campaigned to win back his base over the past year, sending out fundraising appeals that noted his leading role in opposing Biden’s immigration policies. He became a regular guest on Fox News, attacking Democrats as being too soft on immigration and calling for work to resume on Trump’s border wall.
During nearly eight years in Congress, Katko steadily rose up the ranks of House Republicans. He is the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee and was positioned to become its chairman if the GOP won back the House majority in November.
Katko is the longest serving House member in Central New York since Rep. James Walsh, R-Onondaga, represented the region for 20 years until he retired in 2008.
The seat flip-flopped between Democrats and Republicans three times before Katko was elected in 2014. He won all four of his races comfortably over Democratic opponents, three of them by double-digit margins.
Katko remained one of the biggest unicorns among House Republicans. He is one of nine House Republicans to represent a district that President Joe Biden won in the 2020 presidential election.
Heading into the 2020 election, Katko was one of only three House GOP members remaining in a district that Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election.
Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
Ad Choices