My Congressman, Democrat Dennis Moore in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, just announced that he will not seek re-election in 2010.  The timing of this decision was not expected.  The most common assumption was that six-term Congressman Moore would seek re-election in 2010, but retire in 2012.

Right now, it’s unclear whether or not this means something significant with regard to the national outlook for Democrats in 2010.

Here’s a Politico article on the topic, and separately a Kansas City Star article.

Prior to today, Charlie Cook rated this seat as R+3 and a “likely Democratic.”

Moore succeeded in large part because he was the right person, in the right place, and at the right time.  Moore’s success speaks to the importance of candidate recruitment for Republicans in 2010.  The 3rd Congressional District is typically a Republican-voting district (it voted for Bush with roughly 55% of the vote), but it did narrowly support Barack Obama in 2008.  The district contains only 2 and 1/2 counties, and most of the district’s voters live in the suburban Johnson County, whose voters supported Republican presidential candidates Dole 1996, Bush 2000, and Bush 2004 with 60% or more of the vote, but then voted only 53% for John McCain.

Before entering Congress, Dennis Moore had been elected as the long-time Johnson County District Attorney, and later a Trustee at Johnson County Community College.  In 1998, Moore beat first-term Republican Congressman Vince Snowbarger; Moore also skillfully took advantage of the liberal-conservative divide within the Johnson County Republican party.  Moore won re-elections in 2000 and 2002 with less than 50% of the overall vote.  Moore’s 2004 Republican opponent was a conservative who beat Moore’s 2002 opponent in the 2004 primary by a mere ~200 votes, which led to the common “small tent” actions by key moderate leaders.  Moore’s margins of victory grew to comfortable levels by 2006 and 2008.

In Washington, Dennis Moore is a “Blue Dog” Democrat who until 2006 had voted in what could be called a less-radical, center-left manner.  But without a doubt, he is now a committed leftist, and he follows every step made by Nancy Pelosi.

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Benjamin Hodge publishes the Web site KansasProgress.com, based in Johnson County, KS, in the Greater Kansas City area.  Hodge is a delegate to the Kansas GOP, a former state representative, and a former trustee at Johnson County Community College. You can joinHodge’s efforts on Facebook, through his personal Web site, on Twitter, and through his PAC.