Our stretch of the Suncoast will be getting a new US House rep later this year. Republican Thomas Rooney announced yesterday he will not be seeing re-election. Rooney had been the representative of Florida’s 17th District for the past ten years. That district encompasses Venice, Port Charlotte, Arcadia, Lake Placid, Okechobee, all the way north to the Lakeland area. Of the 13 Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, Rooney is now the 4th to announce his retirement at the end of the year.
