DeLay Interviewed on Fox News

SPEAKERS: U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TOM DELAY (R-TX)

JON SCOTT, FOX NEWS ANCHOR

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SCOTT: Powerful Texas Congressman Tom DeLay says he will not seek re-election. The former House majority leader expected to leave his seat by mid-June.

Now in his first televised interview since the announcement, Texas Congressman Tom DeLay joins us live in a Fox News exclusive.

Congressman, good morning.

DELAY: Good morning, Jon.

SCOTT: All of Washington is wondering, why?

DELAY: Why? Well, this campaign actually started over a year ago. It's very nasty. Every leftist organization in America is down here in Houston. I just realized that my constituents don't deserve this. They deserve a Republican.

And I think I could have won the seat, but it would have been nasty. It would have cost a fortune to do it. And I...

SCOTT: But you've never backed away from a challenge before. That's how you got your nickname, "The Hammer." Why not face up to this one?

DELAY: The challenge has always been in the interest of the conservative cause and the Republican majority. And I'm more interested in growing the Republican majority than my own future.