Rep. Frank LoBiondo raised $117,000 in the last fundraising quarter, among the lowest totals reported by House Republican incumbents. | Mel Evans/AP Photo LoBiondo to retire from Congress

New Jersey Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee, will not run for reelection in 2018, he announced Tuesday.

LoBiondo cited committee term-limits for his departure, but the 12-term incumbent also took parting shots at partisan gridlock in Congress.


"There is no longer middle ground to honestly debate issues and put forward solutions," LoBiondo said in a statement. "... Those of us who came to Congress to change Washington for the better through good governance are now the outliers. In legislating, we previously fought against allowing the perfect to become the enemy of the good. Today a vocal and obstinate minority within both parties has hijacked good legislation in pursuit of no legislation.

LoBiondo said that his decision isn't "electoral" and that he was "very confident voters would again reelect me" in 2018 had he decided to run for reelection.

The decision opens a battleground district in southern New Jersey that LoBiondo has held easily since 1994. New Jersey's 2nd District backed President Donald Trump with 50.6 percent of the vote to Hillary Clinton's 46 percent in 2016. But former President Barack Obama also won the seat twice with between 53 and 54 percent of the vote.

Harry Hurley, a New Jersey talk radio host, first reported the news of LoBiondo's retirement.

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LoBiondo raised $117,000 in the last fundraising quarter, among the lowest totals reported by House Republican incumbents, sparking speculation that he would retire instead of running for reelection. Though the district has 147,000 registered Democrats to 132,000 registered Republicans, LoBiondo has managed to easily and consistently win reelection thanks in part to strong labor ties.

National Democrats have actively recruited state Sen. Jeff Van Drew, a conservative-leaning Democrat, in years past, but he’s declined to run. Democrat Tanzie Youngblood, a retired teacher, already launched her bid to challenge LoBiondo in July. Democrats also floated retired judge Ray Batten as a potential candidate for the district.

Republican operatives in the state floated two potential GOP candidates to replace LoBiondo: State Assemblyman Chris Brown, who’s on the ballot for a state Senate seat on Tuesday, and former Atlantic County Sheriff Frank Balles.

LoBiondo's retirement adds another major opportunity for Democrats to pick up a House seat in New Jersey. Already, two normally well-entrenched New Jersey GOP incumbents in the northern half of the state, Rodney Frelinghuysen and Leonard Lance, have attracted several credible Democratic challengers who are raising substantial amounts of campaign cash.

LoBiondo, a member of the moderate Tuesday Group caucus, is the latest in a string of what Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) called "governing-wing" Republicans who have opted against running for reelection in 2018. Dent, Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Washington Rep. Dave Reichert and Michigan Rep. Dave Trott have all announced their plans for retirement.

Matt Friedman, Jake Sherman and Alex Isenstadt contributed to this report.