Bob Ney won't run for re-election

Enquirer Washington Bureau reporter Malia Rulon reports:

WASHINGTON – Embattled Rep. Bob Ney, who has been under scrutiny for accepting a free trip and meals from convicted former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, announced Monday morning that he would not seek re-election to Ohio’s 18th District.

“Ultimately this decision came down to my family. I must think of them first, and I can no longer put them through this ordeal,” Ney said in the statement.

Ney, a Republican from Heath, has not been charged with any wrongdoing and has insisted throughout the Abramoff investigation that he did nothing illegal or improper.

Still, Ney ended up in the spotlight when Abramoff and Ney’s former chief of staff, Neil Volz, admitted earlier this year in plea deals that they attempted to bribe Ney with a free golfing trip to Scotland, tickets to sporting events, campaign contributions and free meals at the up-scale restaurant that Abramoff owned in exchange for official favors.

In recent months, several members of Ney’s congressional staff, including Will Heaton, the chief of staff who replaced Volz, have been subpoenaed. Heaton and former press secretary Brian Walsh resigned from Ney’s office in June.

Under Ohio law, if Ney voluntary withdraws from the race after the primary election but before the general election, the Ohio Republican Party can nominate a candidate to replace him.

Ohio state Sen. Joy Padgett, R-Coshocton, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that she had been asked by House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, to run.

It wasn’t immediately clear why state Sen. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark, another lawmaker who had said he would potentially be interested in succeeding Ney, hadn’t been asked to run. Boehner’s office didn’t immediately respond to questions.

Ney declined an interview request Monday. He said in his statement that he still plans to serve out the remainder of his term, which ends at the end of the year.

The Democrat running for the seat this fall is Zack Space, the law director of Dover. Space had outraised Ney by $190,000 during the last three months.

Space couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.