A conservative state representative announced his plan to run for the 3rd District congressional seat Tuesday, raising speculation that 76-year-old Republican U.S. Rep. Vernon Ehlers may be planning to step down.
Ehlers said separately he would announce his re-election plans at a Wednesday morning news conference at the Gerald R. Ford Federal Building in Grand Rapids.
"He'd love to stay, but when you're in the minority and the chance of getting back in the majority is fairly slim, it might impact your decision," former U.S. Ambassador Peter Secchia, a longtime west Michigan GOP activist, said Tuesday of Ehlers. "That transportation back and forth has to get to you."
Messages seeking comment from spokesmen for Ehlers' congressional and campaign offices were not immediately returned Tuesday.
State Rep. Justin Amash said Tuesday he would run for Ehlers' seat with the aim of bringing accountability and transparency to federal government.
"The president and Congress are spending our money and our children's money to bail out failing companies and reward irresponsibility. Government should not be entangled in our private industries and personal lives," the 29-year-old Amash said in a release.
Ehlers of Grand Rapids has held the seat in the Republican-leaning district since winning a special election in December 1993 after U.S. Rep. Paul Henry died. He previously served in the state House and Senate, where he held leadership positions, and as a Kent County commissioner. He taught physics at Calvin College from 1966-83.
During his nine terms in Congress, Ehlers has pushed for additional funding to clean up pollution and contaminated sediment in the Great Lakes and supported legislation to approve a compact by the eight Great Lakes states seeking to protect the lakes from diversion to other regions of the nation.
As a nuclear physicist who sits on the House Education and Labor Committee and the Science and Technology Committee, Ehlers has been a longtime supporter of funding for science and math education.
He got a 61 percent positive rating from the American Conservative Union in 2008, far lower than 88 percent rating received by U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra in west Michigan's adjacent 2nd District.
Among the issues on which Ehlers has bucked his party is the $700 million bailout bill of the nation's financial industry in late 2008, which he supported, along with legislation allowing prescription drugs imports from Canada in 2003, which the Bush administration opposed. The congressman also voted against a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning.
If Ehlers steps down, the GOP field is expected to grow well beyond Amash, a Grand Rapids lawyer in his first term who posts all of his votes on Facebook. Four Republicans are competing for the 2nd District seat Hoekstra is vacating after nine terms to run for governor.
Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land has long been considered likely to run if Ehlers stepped down. But Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard picked her as his running mate in his run for governor, so it's less likely Land may run for Congress. Land spokeswoman Kelly Chesney said Tuesday she didn't know what Ehlers planned to announce Wednesday.
Ehlers generally is well-regarded in Congress. He was chosen to lead the House Administration Committee in February 2006, has helped shape ethics legislation and was praised by members of both parties for his handling of the committee, which he departed after the 2008 election.