washingtonpost.com

Rep. Steve LaTourette, a key ally of House Speaker John A. Boehner and one of a dwindling number of congressional GOP moderates, issued a broadside against an increasingly polarized House on Tuesday, as he formally announced he will not seek a 10th term.

News of the Ohio Republican’s decision had leaked on Monday and he acknowledged at a news conference in his Painesville district that he was leaving local Republicans in the lurch by stepping out with only 100 days left before the November election.

File: Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) speaks to furloughed Federal Aviation Administration civil engineers, Mike MacDonald, left, and their lobbyist, Erin Barry on Capitol Hill. (Melina Mara - THE WASHINGTON POST)

But he said he had come to believe the personal toll of holding office outweighed his ability to get things done in a divided and bitter Washington.

“I have reached the conclusion that the atmosphere today and the reality that exists in the House of Representatives no longer encourages the finding of common ground,” he said.

LaTourette told reporters that to rise in party ranks, politicians must now hand over “your wallet and your voting card” to party extremes and he was uninterested.

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