Gilchrest said he feels as if he's "being propelled into a much more satisfying life."
"The problem with being a member of the House, especially if you like to be out here canoeing or doing other things away from Washington, is that if you take your job seriously, it's physically and intellectually restrictive," he said. "If you want to branch out, to do things a little more broadly, politics is not the place for you."
In Washington, Gilchrest did not project the air of a man restricted. After voting to authorize President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq - "We had an assumption that the administration was competent, was informed and had integrity," he said, "and we were wrong" - he was one of the first congressional Republicans to turn against the war, joining Democrats in a 2007 vote to set a deadline for a troop withdrawal. He has long expressed concern about climate change. And, in recent years, he has met with officials of the U.S. adversaries Iran and Syria to promote diplomacy over conflict.
Those maverick ways made Gilchrest a target of conservative Republicans, who derided him as a RINO - a Republican in Name Only - and found in Harris the viable challenger they had long sought. The anti-tax Club for Growth and others poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the race, and despite endorsements from Bush and House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Gilchrest was defeated soundly in the primary.
When he campaigned for Kratovil and, later, endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, conservatives said that Gilchrest had at last revealed his true colors. Gilchrest, who has had several conversations with Kratovil since the election, says he is content with the result.
"Frank is independent, he's competent, he keeps himself informed, and he has integrity," Gilchrest said. "You can't ask for anything else on either side of the aisle."
Kratovil, a Democrat who will represent a district that usually elects Republicans, says that Gilchrest is a model for how he wants to serve.
"His legacy is the ability to look at issues and get past the propaganda on both sides and made decisions based on a careful and thorough review and doing what's right," Kratovil said. "I hope to be able to continue that outlook."
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, a Southern Maryland Democrat and Kratovil family friend who campaigned for the congressman-elect, nonetheless described Gilchrest's departure as "a loss to the Congress and to the sort of comity that we try to create here."
