On Thursday, GOP Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who chairs the powerful Judiciary Committee, announced that he would not seek a fourteenth term in Virginia's 6th District, a safely red Shenandoah Valley seat. Like several of his departing Republican colleagues, Goodlatte was serving the final term of his chairmanship. Goodlatte is 65, so he likely could have hung around a bit longer and acquired another good post in Congress if he felt like it. However, while most departing Republicans deny that dealing with Trump has made Congress a less-appealing place, it's tough to deny that he's leading plenty of them to reconsider their place in D.C. It's also worth noting that Goodlatte's announcement came two days after the Democratic victories in Virginia's state election.
In any case, Democrats won't miss Goodlatte when he leaves. As Judiciary chair, Goodlatte remained obsessed with investigating Hillary Clinton even after Trump became president. Goodlatte also opposed any attempt to update the Voting Rights Act after the Supreme Court gutted a key portion of it in 2015. Goodlatte also caused a big headache for his own party early this year when he successfully pushed the GOP caucus to strip the Office of Congressional Ethics of its independence in a closed-door meeting. Once the plan became public, the House leadership quickly reversed course and killed the Goodlatte rule.
Goodlatte has always sailed to victory in his seat, which includes Roanoke, Lynchburg, and much of the Shenandoah Valley. This district went from 60-40 Romney to 60-35 Trump, and according to Miles Coleman, Republican Ed Gillespie carried it 60-39 on Tuesday even as he was losing 54-45 statewide. However, while it's likely that plenty of Republicans will eye this seat, it's not clear how they'll select their nominee. In Virginia, the local parties can nominate their candidates through a traditional primary, though a party convention, or through a so-called "firehouse primary" where voters have a few hours to vote at a limited number of polling places.