Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., to retire

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y., March 20 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Tom Reynolds said he will not seek another term in his upstate New York district, becoming the 29th Republican member of the U.S. House to retire.

Reynolds made the announcement at a news conference at a small-town firehouse in his district, The New York Times reported Thursday. He said that he wanted to spend more time with his family and also suggested that recent Democratic electoral victories were another factor.

"I just looked at where we are," he told reporters. "I had time to reflect on the state senate seat in the north country and Congressman Hastert's seat in Illinois."

Reynolds won a narrow victory in 2006 in his district, which runs between Buffalo and Rochester. He referred to a recent election in which Republicans lost a seat they had held for more than a century and to the loss of a seat that had been tailored for former House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert.

After serving in the state legislature, Reynolds, 57, was elected to Congress in 1998. He was given a seat on the Rules Committee and headed the National Republican Congressional Committee.