WASHINGTON -- Rep. Frank LoBiondo, the New Jersey Republican who most often breaks with his party, announced his retirement Tuesday with a blast at the partisanship that has taken over U.S. politics.

"I always looked for solutions that produce real world results built upon cooperation and partnerships," said LoBiondo, R-2nd Dist. "Regrettably, our nation is now consumed by increasing political polarization; there is no longer middle ground to honestly debate issues and put forward solutions."

His retirement puts the congressional district up for grabs in the 2018 election.

LoBiondo, who first elected in 1994 as Republicans ended 40 years of Democratic control of the House and has served 11 terms on Capitol Hill, said the timing was right for him to leave because term limits required him to give up his aviation subcommittee chairmanship and his seat on the House Intelligence Committee.

"Furthermore, as some of my closest colleagues have also come to realize, those of us who came to Congress to change Washington for the better through good governance are now the outliers," LoBiondo said. "A vocal and obstinate minority within both parties has hijacked good legislation in pursuit of no legislation."

LoBiondo's most recent act of defiance against his party came last month when he voted against the congressional budget resolution targeting the deduction for state and local taxes. He also was one of three House Republicans from New Jersey to oppose health care legislation that the Congressional Budget Office said would leave 23 million more Americans without insurance.

Last year, LoBiondo, 71, crossed party lines and voted with a majority of Democrats against a majority of Republicans 16.9 percent of the time, putting him ninth among all House GOP lawmakers, according to Congressional Quarterly.

This year, he was one of only nine House Republicans to oppose repealing regulations on coal companies in order to protect streams and drinking water supplies.

He also fought President Donald Trump's proposals that could lead to offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean and was one of 24 House Republicans who introduced a resolution in March calling for actions to combat climate change, which the president has called a Chinese hoax.

"With LoBiondo retiring, New Jersey is losing one of the last of our moderate-on-the-environment Republicans," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "Pro-environment and climate-change-protection Republicans have become an endangered species."

LoBiondo also was a strong supporter of organized labor. He received $335,000 in contributions from unions in 2016, more than any other House member running for re-election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group.

He was one of only three House Republicans who earlier this year opposed repealing a regulation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration making it easier to track workplace injuries.

While the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named LoBiondo as one of the four New Jersey House Republicans it was targeting, he did not receive the attention as the other three, Reps. Tom MacArthur, R-3rd Dist., Leonard Lance, R-7th Dist., and Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-11th Dist.

A retired teacher, Tanzie Youngblood of Woolwich, is seeking the Democratic nomination.

The two Washington-based publications that track congressional races, the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections, both rated LoBiondo as a safe bet for re-election.

His retirement, however, "opens up a very competitive seat that President Obama easily won twice," DCCC spokesman Evan Lukaske said.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.