Sen. Rob Portman won’t seek reelection

CINCINNATI (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, of Ohio, said Monday that he won’t seek reelection due in part to how it’s gotten “harder to break through the partisan gridlock and make progress,” and plans to end a career in federal government spanning more than three decades.

Portman’s announcement comes the same day the U.S. Senate is receiving the House impeachment article against former Republican President Donald Trump. While some Republican senators have criticized going ahead with the trial next month with Trump out of office, Portman said last week he would listen to both sides before making a decision on how to vote.

“Our country is very polarized,” Portman said, adding that Trump did not help with the polarization. “It’s shirts and skins right now. We need to tone it down.”

While Portman twice won election to the Senate by landslide margins, his departure could open up a Democratic opportunity. But Portman noted that Ohio’s statewide government offices are dominated by Republicans and there are no shortage of potential candidates. Trump carried the state twice.

Portman, who turned 65 last month, is among establishment Republicans who struggled with supporting Trump. Once dubbed “The Loyal Soldier” in a front-page profile story in his hometown Cincinnati Enquirer, Portman usually supported Trump in carefully worded statements. After Trump called the presidential election rigged, Portman said Trump had a right to a probe of any irregularities.

But in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Portman said Trump needed to go on national TV to address his supporters and tell them to refrain from violence.

“Both in his words before the attack on the Capitol and in his actions afterward, President Trump bears some responsibility for what happened,” Portman said.

He said he’s heard criticism from both those who think he shouldn’t have supported Trump so much and those who think he didn’t support him enough.

Portman was considered likely to face primary opposition in 2022, but he said Monday he had never lost an election in Ohio and was confident he could have won again.

However, he said after 30 years in Washington, he was looking forward to spending more time with his family and in his community. He pledged to focus on legislative work in his last two years, working on pandemic relief — he’s participated in testing of a new vaccine — and issues he’s long been involved with such as fighting drug addiction.