Hanna Will Announce

His Retirement Today

Congressman Formerly Lived In Cooperstown

U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, R-22, the three-term Congressman whose district included most of Otsego County in 2010-12, will announce this morning he will retire at the end of his term next year, Syracuse.com began reporting Sunday afternoon.  He still represents the Richfield Springs area.

Hanna, a businessman who lived in Cooperstown for a period before moving back to the Mohawk Valley, planned to announced the decision at his home Barneveld this morning.

During his tenure, Hanna was the only Republican in Congress to support same-sex marriage, a woman’s right to an abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment, guaranteeing equal rights for women, Syracuse.com recalled.

Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney, whose district also includes a small portion of Otsego, had announced she would again challenge Hanna in a Republican primary.

In Cooperstown, he had become embroiled in a controversy when he offered to by 22-acre Brookwood Gardens from the Cook Foundation, which had held in in public trust.  He planned to build a home there.  After citizens appealed to the state Attorney General’s Office that the sale would block provisions of Bob Cook’s will, Hanna withdrew his offer and moved out of the county.