On February 18, Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) announced that he will not seek reelection at the end of his 2014 term. For eight terms since 1999, Holt has represented New Jersey’s 12th district which includes the state capital Trenton. He previously served on the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, and currently serves House Natural Resources Committee as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, and on the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Holt has a PhD in physics from NYU and is former Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He is praised as the strongest proponent for funding scientific research and education in Congress. He helped get over $22 billion for scientific research in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and co-wrote the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which decreases student loan rates and TEACH grants that provide up to $16,000 of tuition assistance for STEM and foreign language teachers. He has also supported green energy and land conservation issues, including expanding acreage to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, increasing federal funding for rail and transit security funding, and defending renewable energy initiatives.

Holt is one of over two dozen lawmakers to announce retirement this cycle.

Sources: E&E News; New York Times; Representative Rush Holt; Government Printing Office