Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) is leaving Congress not because of the health care fight but because of the exertion that would be required to hold onto his district, friends said. Stupak won't seek reelection

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who played a central role in the health reform fight as the leader of anti-abortion Democrats, announced Friday afternoon that he will not run for reelection, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. Without Stupak on the ballot, the seat becomes an immediate pickup opportunity for Republicans.

At a press conference in his home district this afternoon, Stupak attributed the exertion of traveling back and forth from Washington to his sprawling Upper Peninsula district as a primary reason for his retirement but also said that he had completed much of what he aimed to do in Congress.


“I’ve accomplished what I want to do. Either I run again and I’d be there forever or it’s time for me to make the break; it’s time for me to move on,” Stupak said.

But Republicans immediately attributed Stupak's decision to step down as a direct consequence of his health care vote.

“After selling his soul to Nancy Pelosi, it appears that Bart Stupak finally found the courage to tell her no," said Ken Spain, communications director of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "The political fallout over the Democrats’ government takeover of health care has put the political careers of many Democrats in jeopardy, thanks in part to Stupak’s decision to abandon his alleged pro-life principles."

Republicans believe that other anti-abortion Democrats, like freshman Reps. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) and Kathleen Dahlkemper (D-Pa.), will also face serious trouble because of their support for the health care legislation without strict anti-abortion provisions.

Stupak plans to continue to live in the district, the Democratic official said. He said that he will continue to serve the people of the 1st District, just not as their congressman.

A Stupak friend told POLITICO that the congressman made the final decision during a conversation with his family while in Indianapolis to root for Michigan State in its Final Four basketball game.

Attempting to change his mind, President Barack Obama called Stupak on Wednesday and asked him not to retire. Stupak, 58, also resisted entreaties from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the dean of the Wolverine State delegation.

The Upper Peninsula seat gave President Obama just 50 percent of the vote and supported former President George W. Bush in 2004 with 53 percent. But Stupak had never faced difficulty winning reelection, always prevailing with at least 57 percent of the vote, since he was first elected in 1992.

This year was shaping up to be a different story, with Stupak becoming a leading target on both his left and right flanks. Abortion rights supporters were rallying behind former Charlevoix County Commissioner Connie Saltonstall after Stupak insisted on ant-abortion language being inserted in the health care legislation.

The Tea Party Express caravan stopped in Stupak's Upper Peninsula district last night to protest his health care vote as part of a concerted attempt to oust the incumbent. The group had named Stupak as one of its leading targets.

The friend said he believes Stupak would have won, adding: "More than 95 percent of the opposition from left and right has come from outside of his district."

And Republicans have rallied around surgeon Dan Benishek, a tea party favorite, who received very little attention until Stupak voted for the health care legislation even without the anti-abortion language in the bill . Benishek is expected to raise more than $100,000 this quarter, according to GOP sources, a large amount for a first-time candidate who had virtually no campaign infrastructure before Stupak received national attention over his health care positioning.

Saltonstall, who had been challenging Stupak in the primary, is the only Democrat left in the race. But Democrats expect other candidates in tune with the culturally conservative sentiment of the Upper Peninsula district to emerge, including Mike Prusi and Gary McDowell and state Reps. Joel Sheltrown and Jeff Mayes.

Stupak said he was confident that Democrats would hold the seat, taking a shot at the Republican candidates who had been looking to unseat him.

“We have good Democrats who are term-limited [in the Legislature] and they can hold this seat. I’m excited about the Democratic prospects; I’m sure they will do well. I don’t think this is automatically a Republican seat,” Stupak said.

“I’ve seen the Republican field and, obviously, I’m not impressed. In my estimation, it’s the weakest field in some time.”

Debate this story in the Arena.