9th House Democrat Announces Retirement
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Rod Driver, a Democrat representing the 39th District of Charlestown, Exeter, Richmond, announced that he is not seeking re-election this year. He was previously a State Representative from 1987-1994, an unsuccessful candidate for Congress and has just completed his first term back in the House.
Driver sent out the following announcement via email:
"I have decided not to run for re-election to the RI House in 2010. I’m not physically up to the kind of campaign I believe in. It has been a great honor to represent Richmond, Charlestown and Exeter in the General Assembly. I’m grateful to the voters for giving me the opportunity to do so. And to the special friends who worked so hard in my 2008 campaign. There will always be plenty to do – helping other candidates and participating in issue-driven campaigns or more-generic, government-reform efforts such as those promoted by Rhode Island’s Operation Clean Government. I don’t know who all will run for the District 39 house seat. The candidate who came in a close second in the 2008 Democratic primary was Larry Valencia. And soon after the election (which he helped me win) he accepted the unpaid position of President of Operation Clean Government where he has been working tirelessly for government reform in Rhode Island."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAs Driver notes, Larry Valencia is expected to run for the Democratic nomination in his district. Valencia lost by only 31 votes to Driver in the 2008 Democratic Primary.
Driver becomes the 9th Democrat who is not seeking re-election this coming November. Driver joins Tim Williamson, John Loughlin, David Segal, Steven Costantino, Edwin Pacheco, Ray Sullivan and Peter Kilmartin leaving the House.
These 9 departures (and the expected departure of a few more before the filing deadline at the end of June) pose a challenge to new House Speaker Gordon Fox and new Democratic Party chairman Edwin Pacheco to both maintain a strong Democratic majority in the House and to ensure a 50+ voting majority for Speaker Fox.
