WASHINGTON — Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis. is expected to announce he will not run for re-election on Wednesday, the Associated Press has learned.
There had been weeks of speculation regarding whether or not Ryan would run. As recently as March 30, the Associated Press reported that officially Ryan was still making a decision and aides close to him expected him to run.
Ryan joins a wave of House Republicans who announced they would retire rather seek re-election.
Ryan, 48, was the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2012 and was long believed to harbor president ambitions. He was elected Speaker of the House in 2015 after John Boehner announced his retirement.
During the 2016 election, Ryan at times had a contentious relationship with then candidate Donald Trump. Ryan said Trump’s attacks on a federal judge over his Mexican heritage were the “textbook” definition of racism.
Since Trump’s election, Ryan was more muted in his criticisms of Trump, however the two did clash over tariffs that Trump threatened to impose.
Democrats were looking forward to challenging Ryan’s seat in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District in November. The district was one of 33 districts identified by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as a top prospect to be flipped from Republican to Democrat.
This is a developing story.
