The following article by Ed O’Keefe and David Weigel was posted on the Washington Post website October 24, 2017:
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) announced on Oct. 24 that he won’t seek reelection in 2018, joining at least five other Republican members of Congress who say they won’t seek another term. (Sarah Parnass, Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday announced plans to retire from the U.S. Senate at the end of his term, saying he was out of step with the Republican Party in the era of President Trump.
The senator’s surprise announcement came after more than a year of criticism of Trump and the direction he has taken the party, culminating in a book called “Conscience of a Conservative” that critiqued the president’s character and ideology. Recent polls in Arizona found Flake trailing the Democrat’s likely Senate nominee, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), as well as potential primary challengers if he sought a second term next year. Continue reading “Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona will retire, citing direction of GOP under Trump”