FILE - In this March 23, 2017, file photo, Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Dent said in a Tuesday, April 17, 2018, statement that he'll resign from Congress in the coming weeks but didn't give a precise departure date, after the seven-term lawmaker and leader of an influential caucus of GOP moderates announced Sept. 7, 2017, he wouldn't seek re-election in 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Republished April 17, 2018 - 9:31 AM
Original Publication Date April 17, 2018 - 8:06 AM
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Republican Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, a leading GOP moderate, says he'll resign from Congress in May, after announcing last year that he wouldn't seek re-election.
The seven-term Dent didn't give a precise departure date in Tuesday's statement. He said he'd made the decision after discussing it with his family and careful reflection.
Dent's been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump and polarization and dysfunction on Capitol Hill.
Gov. Tom Wolf will have 10 days from Dent's resignation date to set a special election to fill the remaining months in Dent's term. The district has slightly more registered Democrats than Republicans, but Trump won it by more than 7 percentage points in 2016's presidential election.
Dent's district was redrawn earlier this year under court order and is considered a toss-up in November's election.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018