Influential House Democrat retiring

Casting another shadow over the Democrats’ political prospects in the midterm elections, Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee and one of the longest-serving members of Congress, announced Wednesday he would not seek reelection this year.

He joins a growing list of senior members of both parties who have decided to leave Congress rather than face reelection in an increasingly anti-incumbent climate. The peril is especially great for Democrats, who were already expected to suffer double-digit losses in congressional races this fall.

Obey, an old-school liberal who was first elected in 1969, faced the toughest reelection fight of his career. But he was still favored to win and said at a news conference that he was not quitting because he feared defeat but because he was “bone tired” and had concluded that he and his constituents would benefit from change.

“There is a time to stay and a time to go,” Obey, 71, said. “And this is my time to go.… I haven’t done all the big things that I wanted to do when I started out, but I’ve done all the big things I’m likely to do.”

At the appropriations committee, which has vast jurisdiction over government spending, Obey is expected to be succeeded as chairman by Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.). The change isn’t likely to bring a dramatic shift to the panel. But while Obey has long been a leader in calling for increased domestic policy spending, Dicks may bring a more sympathetic ear for the Pentagon’s requests because he is now chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee.

Democratic officials remain confident that the party can retain control of Obey’s district in northwestern Wisconsin. The leading Republican contender is a district attorney, Sean Duffy, who has won the endorsement of Sarah Palin and many “tea party” activists.

Obey said he had wanted to retire from Congress years ago but stuck around after a contentious 2002 meeting with President George W. Bush in which the president rejected a bipartisan congressional recommendation to increase the budget for domestic security.

Party officials and his colleagues had expected Obey to run for reelection because his campaign war chest was flush and he remained one of the most powerful people on Capitol Hill — especially now that his party controls Congress and the White House.

Obey was a leading opponent of the Iraq war and, more recently, was a principal author of President Obama’s economic stimulus bill.

This year, with the political environment dominated by anti-incumbent sentiment and a clamor for change, the GOP has been campaigning against Obey as a politician whose time has come and gone.

“There is no question that David Obey was facing the race of his life, and that is why it is understandable that the architect of President Obama’s failed stimulus plan has decided to call it quits,” said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

janet.hook@latimes.com