Florida Republican Congressman Trey Radel, who was arrested several months ago in a buy-and-bust by the Washington, D.C. Police, is resigning from office:
Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) will resign from Congress on Monday, according to multiple sources.
Radel, 37, was caught buying cocaine in November from an undercover federal agent in Washington and spent nearly a month in a rehabilitation facility. He returned to Congress after the winter recess.The first-term Republican plans to send a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) Monday, sources said.It’s up to Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott to schedule a special election for Radel’s seat. His southwest Florida district is solidly Republican — Mitt Romney won the district with 61 percent of the vote.
As the Politico article goes on to note, several candidates had already been lining up on the GOP side of the aisle to either challenge Radel should he have tried to run for re-election or to step in should he, as he has chosen now, resign. Radel initially had entered rehab after pleading guilty to reduced charges and insisted that he would stay in Congress, but it was clear from the time the story came out that his fellow Republicans both in Florida and in D.C. just wished he’d go away.
Radel’s district stretches from Ft. Meyers down to Naples on the Gulf Coast of Florida, a heavily Republican area, so it’s unlikely that this would be a pick-up opportunity for a Democratic candidate.
