Representative Sue Myrick, the first Republican woman to represent North Carolina in Congress, announced Tuesday that she would not seek re-election this year.
Ms. Myrick, 70, rode to Washington in the Republican sweep of the 1994 Congressional elections. She currently serves on the Select Intelligence and Energy and Commerce Committees.
In a statement posted on Facebook and YouTube on Tuesday, Ms. Myrick did not explain why she was stepping aside, but said she had consulted with her family before deciding not to seek a 10th term.
“Thanks for the trust you have placed in us all these years,” she said. “We will spend the rest of the year working on the issues that are important to all of you – and I hope to be a positive influence in all our negotiations. I hope you will join me in praying that God will heal our nation.”
Ms. Myrick has been a reliable vote for her party and opposed almost all of President Obama’s policies, though she has worked with Democrats on issues like breast cancer, a disease she survived.
A member of the Tea Party Caucus and a former chairwoman of the Republican Study Committee, she has drawn criticism for her tactics in opposing radical Islam. She wrote the foreword to a book suggesting that Muslims were engaged in a plot to “Islamize” the government and later waged a campaign to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations, drawing criticism from Democrats and Muslim groups.
Before arriving in Washington, Ms. Myrick served two terms as the mayor of Charlotte. Before that, she ran an advertising firm and served a term on the Charlotte City Council.
She is North Carolina’s third incumbent this year to announce plans to leave Congress, joining Representatives Brad Miller and Heath Shuler. More than three dozen lawmakers have decided to retire or seek another office at the end of the 112th Congress.
Her Charlotte-based district has been in Republican hands since 1968, according to Congressional Quarterly, and strategists say it will remain safe for Republicans after the state’s redistricting maps take effect.
Ms. Myrick ran unopposed in the 2010 Republican primary, but her announcement Tuesday is expected to inspire a rush of Republicans to file papers to run for her seat.
