NJ Republican congressman to retire amid health concerns; Wyo. GOP rep. plans announcement

A 12-term Republican member of Congress said Friday he won't run for re-election, and officials in Wyoming expect a similar announcement Saturday from a seven-term GOP congresswoman.

Rep. Jim Saxton of New Jersey is the 14th House Republicans to retire since the GOP lost its majority in the 2006 elections, giving Democrats an opportunity to extend their 31-seat majority. Rep. Barbara Cubin of Wyoming could be the 15th.

Three House Democrats have also announced they won't seek re-election.

Saxton said he wasn't running because of health reasons. A spokesman said the 64-year-old congressman was diagnosed in late spring with prostate cancer and is also being treated for chronic sciatica, a painful back and leg condition.

"I will continue to receive medical treatment and my health care providers have indicated the prognosis is, in fact, very positive," Saxton said.

Meanwhile, Cubin, 60, planned to make an announcement about her future at a Republican Central Committee meeting Saturday in Casper, Wyo.

At that meeting, Cubin will announce that she will not run for re-election, according to two Republican officials who requested anonymity since the congresswoman has yet to make her plans public.

Cubin has missed nearly half her votes this year tending to her ill husband, Dr. Frederick "Fritz" Cubin, and following the death of her brother and after she broke her foot.

"It has been an extraordinarily difficult year for our family," Cubin said last month.

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Associated Press Special Correspondent David Espo in Washington, D.C., and writer Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyo., contributed to this report.