After 11 years in the House, U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup is calling it quits, saying he wants to be home with his family.
The 2nd District congressman, first elected in 2012, made his announcement in a video he posted early Thursday evening on X, formerly Twitter.
"All too often, the frantic pace of Washington has kept me away from our home," Wenstrup said in the video. "I'm ready to change that."
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The video was interspersed with scenes of him at home in Highland County with his wife Monica and their two young children.
A foot surgeon who served in the U.S. Army Reserves in Iraq, Wenstrup made his first foray into politics in 2011 when he ran for Cincinnati mayor against incumbent Mark Mallory. He lost, but he gained a following in the Hamilton County Republican Party for being willing to run for that office when no other Republican would.
He was elected to Congress in 2012, replacing Republican Jean Schmidt, and has been re-elected with ease five times since then in a heavily Republican district.
The 2nd congressional district spans a vast territory consisting of all or part of 15 southern Ohio counties, stretching out to Pike and Scioto counties. Eastern Hamilton County was drawn out of the district in 2012 and Wenstrup moved his voting address from their home in Columbia Tusculum to the family's home on Rocky Fork Lake in Highland County.
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Alex Triantafilou, the Ohio Republican Party chairman who recruited Wenstrup as a candidate 12 years ago, praised Wenstrup on X.
"I have had the distinct honor of working with Congressman Wenstrup since his earliest foray into politics," Triantifilou wrote. "He has served our country with great honor and humility. His family comes first and by making this choice he reminds all of us what matters most. I wish him all the best."
Wenstrup could not be immediately reached for comment to WVXU.
