WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Amo Houghton, R-N.Y., a leader of the moderate GOP wing in the U.S.House of Representatives, said Tuesday he was retiring from Congress.
First elected in 1986, Houghton represents New York's 29th Congressional District, a seat that comprises most of New York's Southern Tier region and is, as a member of the family that owns the famed Corning Glass Works, reportedly one of Congress' wealthiest members.
Houghton is likely best known for his leadership of what remains of the so-called Rockefeller Wing of the Republican Party. In 1998, Houghton founded the Republican Main Street Partnership to further economically conservative and socially moderate policies within the GOP. It currently boasts of a membership of close to 70 GOP members of Congress and governors from across the United States.
In 2002, Houghton was re-elected with 73 percent of the vote. George W. Bush carried the district over former Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 presidential race by more than 30,000 votes, 53 percent to 43 percent.
