From The Rocky Mountain Times:

Even if he loses his long-shot bid for the White House, Rep. Tom Tancredo will be leaving the U.S. House of Representatives at the end of 2008.

Tancredo, 61 , waited until after the Colorado Rockies' last out of the World Series on Sunday night before announcing that he plans to retire from Congress at the end of this, his fifth term.

"It's the fact that I really believe I have done all I can do in the House, especially about the issue about which I care greatly (immigration)," Tancredo said in a phone interview from a motel in Iowa.

Tancredo's retirement makes the seat somewhat more winnable for a Democrat but it will still be an uphill battle. The district (PVI of R+10) voted for Bush over Kerry 60%-39% in 2004 and Tancredo won re-election in 2006 with 58% of the vote. Bill Winter, who opposed Tancredo last year, has not announced whether he intends to run again this year but now that Tancredo is retiring, there could be a mad rush of candidates on both sides of the aisle. Our best hope, as Swing State Project notes, is for a fundie wingnut to emerge from a bruising primary, but it does seem like we'll need a perfect storm in order to win the seat.

As for Tancredo, he's still considering a run against Ken Salazar for senate in 2010 and has decided that he doesn't need to actually be in congress to make a credible bid if he decides to do so. In the meantime:

"Well, I am certainly looking forward to the time when at least a week can go by when I don't have to get on an airplane," Tancredo said.