You can say that this diary is as much a resignation watch open thread as Ricj Renzi's fellow Republicans are telling him to quit.
U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., could soon step down in the wake of a federal investigation into his involvement in a federal land swap deal and FBI raids of an insurance agency owned by his wife.
His resignation could come as early as Friday or soon after, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Top Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, have been meeting to discuss what they will do if Renzi resigns and his rural congressional seat opens up.
Republican leaders also are starting to encourage Renzi to resign, saying a prolonged investigation will hurt the party's chances of holding onto his Arizona seat, according to knowledgeable sources.
Democrats also are preparing for a Renzi exit. Cottonwood attorney Jim Ledbetter is among those being recruited by party leadership to run for Renzi's seat in a possible special election.
So it appears that the first serious contest of the 2007-2008 election will coomence very soon. Based on an email I received last night from the Arizona Democratic Party, we are not wasting any time.
GOP Congressman Rick Renzi is in a lot of hot water right now, and this is an amazing opportunity for us to gain a Democratic majority in Arizona’s Congressional delegation.
Late last week, as a part of an ongoing investigation into his shady land deals and political corruption, Renzi’s family business in Southern Arizona was raided by FBI agents. We need your help to take down this corrupt Congressman.
Now Renzi has resigned from all three of his Congressional committee assignments including Intelligence, Natural Resources and Financial Services, and has retained one of the top Republican attorneys whose specializes in "public corruption investigations."
It seems to me if he’s resigning his committee seats and hiring expensive defense lawyers, he knows he’s got something to hide. We need your help to expose the truth. Your contribution will help fund the efforts to remove this corrupt member of Congress from public office!
Rumor has it that Renzi may resign soon, and it looks like he was pressured to pull out from the Retain Our Majority Program (ROMP) which raises money for targeted Republicans, a sure sign that he’s considering resigning, according to this week’s Politico: http://www.politico.com/...
But that doesn’t mean that we should ease the pressure on this critical district! If Renzi resigns, there is a special election, and we have only 6 months to take back CD1. The Republicans will not back down and are already putting candidates forward to protect this seat.
We need your help to put a Democrat in CD1.
Please make an online donation now to help us unseat Renzi and win a Democratic majority in Arizona’s Congressional Delegation.
Thank you for your generous support.
David Waid
State Party Chair
That pretty much confirms that Renzi is about to go. Now the question we have to anawer is whether we, the party, rally around one candidate or allow a potentially wide open primary. Personally, I believe in these cases it's best to coalesce around someone as I am sure the Republicans will probably beat the crap out of each other during the primary phase. So my questions to all of you are: 1) Should we try to avoid a messy primary and 2) Who is the best candidate? Do we look for a seasoned campaigner or a fresh face? And if we go for the fresh face, will the DCC need to step in and assist him or her? Let's get it together as soon as possible.
Update [2007-4-27 12:25:31 by RandyMI]:
According to a Roll Call article quoted by Raw Story, Renzi intends to try to finish his term.
An embattled congressman is denying newspaper reports and rumors that he plans on resigning today, according to a Capitol Hill newspaper.
"Despite rumors to the contrary, Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) said in a brief statement Friday morning that he intends to serve out the remainder of his current term, his third in the House," Roll Call reports.
"I am honored to have recently been re-elected, and I’m looking forward to continuing to serve the people of the 1st district for the next two years," Renzi said.
Fine, we'll use him as the poster boy of corruption between now and November, 2008. Feel free to run again too, Mr. Renzi.