GOP Texas Rep. Bill Flores Won’t Seek Re-Election

Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) became the latest Republican congressman to announce he will not seek re-election to the U.S. Congress.

“Serving my country as the Representative of the hardworking Texas families in the 17th Congressional District has been an honor and one of the greatest privileges of my life. When I originally announced that I was running for Congress in 2009, I was firm in my commitment that I would run for six or fewer terms. After much prayer over the past few days and following conversations with my wife, Gina, during that time, I have decided that my current term will be my last,” Flores said in a statement Wednesday.

His announcement Wednesday brings the number of House Republicans retiring next year to 15.

One-third of them are from Texas, where a generation of GOP dominance is weakening amid demographic changes and booming suburbs that are trending to Democrats.

Flores easily held onto to his mostly rural district last year, unlike other Republican incumbents who got a scare in races closer to Texas’ big cities.

Flores says he made a commitment when he first ran for Congress that he would serve fewer than six terms.

“During the almost 10-year period since our decision to run for Congress in late 2009, much has happened. During that time, I have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles, spent hundreds of nights away from home and generally worked 12-18 hours per day, six days per week in order to effectively serve over 700 thousand constituents in Central Texas and the Brazos Valley,” said the outgoing lawmaker. “Our family evolved substantially during that period as Gina lost her father, we picked up a daughter-in-law, added four awesome grandkids and watched my Mom and Dad move further along their senior years.  My job as Representative has made it difficult to spend as much time with Gina and the rest of my family as I would like.”

Texas Republican Reps. Michael Conaway and Will Hurd are among the list lawmakers who will not run for re-election.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.