Rep. Paul Cook announced Tuesday his plans to retire, the latest GOP House congressman to step down.

The California Republican, who was first elected in 2012, will be leaving Congress to run for a seat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, his chief of staff told the Los Angeles Times.

More than a dozen House Republicans have so far announced their plans to retire at the end of this term, several of them from Texas.

While some have taken the string of retirements as a bad sign for GOP prospects in 2020, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, however, said he’s unconcerned, with the exception of Texas Rep. Will Hurd’s seat.

Rather, he argued, it’s better for the party to have new recruits.

“All the retirements except one [in] this cycle is in a safe seat,” the California Republican told Fox News. “I think it’s healthy. I had one member come to me who’s been on the ballot since 1988 - he says I can’t give you a hundred percent to go win the majority. So let’s bring some new people in at the same time. This is about a revolution, not a retirement.”

Mr. Cook’s district is solidly Republican, and he won reelection in 2018 with 60% of the vote against a fellow Republican challenger Tim Donnelly.

— David Sherfinski contributed to this report

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.