“I want to thank my wife Nancy and my kids for all the support over these many years, as well as my staff and the people who supported my re-election efforts. It is a very big undertaking to run and successfully serve, and I would never have been able to do it were it not for the generous help of so many fine people,” Weldon said in a statement.

Weldon is the 22nd GOP incumbent to announce that they will not seek reelection in 2008.

It’s also the second GOP retirement announcement this week. On Thursday, Rep. Jim Walsh (R-N.Y.) said he would not seek reelection.

The departure would open a seventh spot on the Appropriations Committee.

President Bush won Weldon’s district in 2004 with 57 percent of the vote, compared to 43 percent for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

Weldon’s exit creates a wide open race on both sides of the aisle.

Democrats lost a top recruit for the race late last year when Air Force Reserve Lt. Col Paul Rancatore dropped out for familial reasons, but Democratic former Brevard County Commissioner Nancy Higgs is expected to enter the race next week. Possible Republican candidates include state Sens. Bill Posey and Mike Haridopolos.

Two minor candidates, Republican Alan Bergman and Democrat Steve Blythe, have signed up for the race.

Also on Friday, local news station WFTV reported that Weldon’s daughter, Katie Weldon, was arrested early in the morning for striking a man with a shoe at a Melbourne, Fla., bar.

According to an affidavit obtained by the station, Katie Weldon caused a laceration under the man’s left eye. A security guard witnessed the incident, and she was charged with misdemeanor battery.

Weldon spokesman Jeremy Steffens said Weldon's retirement was planned weeks before the incident, and they are unrelated.

“His daughter is an adult, she lives on her own,” Steffens said. “Obviously he’s a loving father who cares deeply about his daughter and supports her, and obviously she’s going to have to deal with some of this stuff. But it is in absolutely no way related.”

Weldon issued a statement on the arrest: “Mrs. Weldon and I have been made of aware of an incident involving our daughter last night. After talking with her we feel quite certain she did nothing to merit her arrest and believe this will be [corroborated] by others. We stand by our daughter’s assertion in this matter and ask that her privacy be observed until all the facts are out.”