Not seeking re-election, GOP Rep. Dent to resign from House

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Republican Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, a leading GOP moderate, says he’ll resign from Congress in May, after announcing last year that he wouldn’t seek re-election.

The seven-term Dent didn’t give a precise departure date in Tuesday’s statement. He said he’d made the decision after discussing it with his family and careful reflection.

Dent’s been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump and polarization and dysfunction on Capitol Hill.

Gov. Tom Wolf will have 10 days from Dent’s resignation date to set a special election to fill the remaining months in Dent’s term. The district has slightly more registered Democrats than Republicans, but Trump won it by more than 7 percentage points in 2016’s presidential election.

Dent’s district was redrawn earlier this year under court order and is considered a toss-up in November’s election.