Georgia Republican Barry Loudermilk won't seek reelection to US House

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ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Republican U.S. House member Barry Loudermilk, who has been active in efforts to discredit Democratic-led investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, announced Wednesday that he won't seek reelection this year.

Loudermilk has served in Congress since 2015. He is part of a wave of incumbents exiting the House. So far, 50 are stepping down or running for some other office.

Four Republican-held congressional seats in Georgia will change hands this year. In addition to Loudermilk, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned from her seat in January, setting up a March special election. U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins are both running for the GOP's U.S. Senate nomination, aiming to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.

Loudermilk, 62, said in a statement that he wanted to spend “more dedicated time” with his family.

“I first ran for election to Congress in 2014 and, as I stated then, representing the people in Congress is a service, not a career," Loudermilk said. "And although I continue to have strong support from the people of the 11th Congressional District, I believe it is time to contribute to my community, state, and nation in other ways.”

The 11th Congressional District, northwest of Atlanta, includes all of Bartow, Gordon and Pickens counties and parts of Cherokee and Cobb counties. The Cook Political Report ranks the district as the fifth-most strongly Republican district of the nine that the GOP holds in Georgia.

Before serving in Congress, Loudermilk served in the Air Force. He chaired the Bartow County Republican Party and then served six years in the Georgia state House of Representatives and two years in the state Senate.

Loudermilk was scrutinized by the House Jan. 6 committee for giving a tour of parts of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021. The committee suggested that some tour participants may have been examining security measures. Loudermilk denied wrongdoing, saying it was a “smear campaign.”

After Republicans took the majority, Loudermilk led a subcommittee that released a report alleging former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney acted improperly on the Democratic-led Jan. 6 committee and calling for her to be investigated for criminal witness tampering. Loudermilk currently leads another subcommittee that is charged with further investigating Jan. 6.