14 term (yes, 28 years to you and me) moderate Republican Congressman Bill Thomas of Bakersfield has formally 
announced that he is retiring from the United States House of Representatives at the end of this year. Thomas is a high-ranking member of the House, this year finishing up his third term (sixth year) as Chairman of the power Ways & Means Committee.
I’ve obviously made no bones in my past writings about Thomas that I think he has been a poor member of Congress. At a time when we have seen federal spending rise 33% since the GOP liberated Congress from the Democrats in the 1994 "Contract with America" elections that propelled Newt Gingrich into the Speaker’s chair, Bill Thomas has symbolized, to me, our spending problems.
Well, with Thomas’ announcement, I am sure that much will be written about him (I will share some personal stories in the weeks to come), but all eyes will quickly be turned on who files for his House seat — the two presumptive front-runners will be State Senator Roy Ashburn, and State Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy. Thomas will undoubtedly back McCarthy, who until his election to the Assembly two years ago,
was Thomas’ District Director. McCarthy (pictured on the left) is certainly more conservative than Thomas, and a nicer guy (although that isn’t hard with the mercurial Thomas being famous for not getting along with people). Ashburn (pictured to the right) is clearly the more ideologically conservative of the two candidates. That said, in this VERY Republican district, I would imagine that both candidates will be campaigning to the right of Attila the Hun. Thus the nod will likely go to the person who can out-organize, out-network, and out-fundraise the other. It will be a healthy donnybrook, and will be great spectator sport for all of us in the cheap seats. For local voters, it will be a choice between two well-known local politicians – Ashburn has been in elective office in Kern County forever, and McCarthy benefits from his very recent high-profile Assembly run in 2004.
Local TV Station KGET broke the news locally. Here is a link to the Bakersfield Californian (yes, if you haven’t, you’ll need to complete their free registration process) so that you can see their coverage on Thomas’ retirement when they put it up. I’m sure there will be news back east, too. Try Roll Call (subscription based), or (for free) The Hill. Of course, for the patient, we’ll have full coverage and reaction here on the FR.
Here’s a link to an AP "pre-announcement" story with some background.
National Journal’s Hotline Blog reported it as gospel from ‘insiders’ around 9am this morning. Our connections are better – FR’s Central Valley Correspondent Mike Der Manouel, Jr, called this, via his inside connection, on Saturday.
We waited for the ‘real deal’ to post this.
Finally, below is an entry from today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary concerning Thomas, and more specifically, the speculation on who will follow him into the Chairmanship of the House Ways & Means Committee:
Either a lot of press rumor-mongering is way off-base or House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas will announce today his intention to retire from Congress at the end of the year. Term limits were already bringing his leadership of the all-important tax committee to an end. If he wraps up his career as expected, his announcement will officially kick off a battle to fill one of Congress’s most important jobs. Up for grabs could be whether President Bush’s tax cuts are made permanent, whether private Social Security accounts get back on the agenda, and whether the GOP majority can rein in Medicaid, Medicare and other federal entitlements.
The GOP will likely be looking for someone less caustic than the smart but difficult Mr. Thomas. One strong contender is Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana. He’s been groomed by Mr. Thomas, who helped him jump past several more senior Republicans to get the chairmanship of the Social Security subcommittee. Mr. McCrery is considered solid on taxes by supply-siders. He eventually (after a bit of public hesitation) became a key backer of the president’s Social Security proposals. Two years ago he pondered retirement and was personally lobbied by both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Mr. McCrery’s ability to get along with Democrats is illustrated by his current role as Mr. Thomas’s envoy to the other side. He’s also raised a lot of money for fellow Republicans — reportedly more than any other member who isn’t chairman of a major committee.
Another possibility is Rep. Clay Shaw, a Florida Republican, who celebrates his 25th anniversary in Congress today at a fundraiser hosted by Mr. Cheney. Mr. Shaw was a key architect of Welfare Reform in 1996 and has been a tireless promoter of tax reform — including abolishing the "alternative minimum tax." Last year, he rolled out his own Social Security plan to create "add-on" accounts funded by surplus payroll-tax collections that now disappear into general spending. Like Mr. McCrery, he’s shown an ability to work with Democrats.
House Republicans have already elected a new majority leader this year — John Boehner. Mr. Thomas, up until a few weeks ago, was making noises about proposing his own sweeping tax overhaul and seeking a waiver of term limits at Ways and Means. He’s one of the few in Congress who seems to grasp the role the tax code has played in creating America’s health-care discontents. Who Republicans pick to fill Mr. Thomas’s shoes will say a lot about whether the GOP is still the party of bold ideas.