New York Representative Eric Massa to retire

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

New York Representative Eric Massa announced Wednesday that he would be stepping down as Congressman from New York’s 29th congressional district. He cited health reasons for the sudden announcement. Massa is the latest in a string of United States Congresspeople to resign or not to seek reelection in 2010.

He said that he had his third non-specific cancer recurrence in December 2009. He implied that his cancer is terminal, saying “I will now enter the final phase of my life at a more controlled pace.”

He denied claims that his resignation is related to a sexual harassment accusation from a male aide. He said that this was untrue, although he admitted to using so called “salty language”.