Dear Friends -

After consulting my doctors and my family, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from Dancing with the Stars before I do any permanent damage to my feet (or hips, which have clearly been working overtime). My DWTS journey has taken me from Sugar Land to Hollywood, and I am grateful for every moment: I got to dance on Ellen, make friends with an Osbourne, share the stage with an Osmond and was told I was “easy on the eyes.” It’s been a great ride.

I must thank my marvelous partner, Cheryl, for all of her dedication, skill and patience. I know it could not have been easy teaching an exterminator-turned-politician how to cha-cha or tango. Had it not been for her tremendous talent, I never would have made it past the first round. Her dancing ability is truly special, and I was fortunate enough to have such a gifted teacher as my partner.

A huge thank you to the thousands of folks who showed their support by calling, texting and clicking their votes to keep Cheryl and me in the competition. Without your enthusiastic support, we certainly would not have gotten as far as we did. Knowing I had so many people behind me made leaving the show that much harder, and I cannot thank you enough.

And of course, I must also thank my family for their incredible support and encouragement. My lovely wife and daughter always kept me going through the intense training sessions and live performances. I am blessed to have these two powerful women standing with me.

My friends, I hope you had as much fun watching us perform as we did performing. All in all, twisting my hips on the dance floor beats the heck out of twisting arms in Congress, and I’m going to miss dancing into your homes each week. That said, you better believe I’ll be back at the finale to show Len, Bruno and Carrie Ann my two-step.

Thanks, and keep the faith,

Tom

PS: You can still keep up with me via Twitter, so be sure to follow.