Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, says he won't fight for the leadership post he left after being indicted on state political money laundering charges. The concession came in a letter to U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Saturday, a day after a group of fellow house Republicans circulated a petition calling for a Jan. 31 leadership election. GOP Reps. Jeff Flake of Arizona and Charlie Bass of New Hampshire, the authors of the petition, said it was a message to DeLay to let someone else lead the party.
If 50 Republican representatives would have signed the petition it would forced a new election. DeLay's letter to Hastert made the petition moot. The Chicago Tribune reports DeLay said in the letter to Hastert that the Republican Party would be threatened by his problems if he were to push for reinstatement. DeLay was indicted Sept. 28 on conspiracy and money laundering charges in Texas and subsequently stepped down from his position as U.S. House majority leader.
