After calendar year 2016, Clinton County and some other 34 counties to our west will be represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by a different person for the first time in over two decades, as current First District Congressman Ed Whitfield announced last Tuesday, September 29 that he would not be seeking a 12th term in office.

Whitfield, who when first elected to the seat in 1994, became the first Republican in modern-day history to be elected in the heavily Democratic western Kentucky area.

Clinton County is the farthest county to the east in the first district, having been placed in that district in the early 1990s when the Congressional districts were redrawn. During that process, Kentucky lost one Congressional seat, going from seven U.S. Representatives to six. Clinton County had long been in the fifth district, which is now represented by long-term Republican Hal Rogers of Somerset.

Whitfield said in his announcement last week, “Representing the people of the 1st District for 21 years has been an honor. I will cherish forever the countless opportunities to work with them to nurture and strengthen the 35 counties comprising Kentucky’s First District.

“Among many memorable achievements, I am particularly proud of helping to establish the Federal Health Benefit Program for employees at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant; creating a National Forest at Land Between the Lakes; providing much needed funding for our troops at Fort Campbell; promoting the utilization of our abundant fossil fuels; and ensuring the humane treatment of animals.

“My staff in Kentucky and Washington D.C. has been superb. Their commitment to excellence allowed me to serve the people of the 1st District to the best of my ability.

“I want to thank my colleagues in the U.S. House and Senate for the many courtesies they extended to me. To Connie, my wife, my heartfelt thanks to her resilience and her many contributions. I also thank my mother for her unwavering support.

“While many Americans are frustrated with the institution of Congress, I still believe that politics is a worthy vocation and I know many men and women of character will always be willing to serve.”

Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. Politics is and will always be an honorable way to serve.”

Congressman Whitfield, of Hopkinsville, will have served 11 terms in Washington when he leaves office at the end of next year.

As always is the case when a sitting office holder decides not to seek re-election, it leaves the office up for grabs for someone else and usually several candidates from both parties enter the race to fill the vacant seat and several candidates are expected to run for the office in 2016.

Within two days after Whitfield’s announcement, three persons, all Republicans, announced they would be running for Congress in the First District.

Those hopefuls included Whitfield’s District Director, Michael Page, as well as outgoing Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer of Tompkinsville, who recently lost a close primary election to be the nominee for Kentucky governor.

The third and most recent candidate to announce intentions to run for the U.S. Congressional seat was Hickman County Attorney Jason Batts.

U.S. Congressman Ed Whitfield during a town-hall meeting in Albany in 2013.