California Democrat Representative Jackie Speier Latest Senior Democrat Not To Run

news7g11/17/2021

5 2 minutes read

California Democrat Representative Jackie Speier Latest Senior Democrat Not To Run

Speier, who was first elected to the US House of Representatives seat in 2008, is one of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s closest allies in Congress. Her departure follows a series of recent announcements from Democrats publicly announcing plans to leave Capitol Hill, including the Deputies. John Yarmuth of Kentucky, David Price in North Carolina and Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania.

Speier is the 15th Democrat in the House to announce his intention to leave at the end of his term, compared with 10 Republicans. At this point in the 2020 cycle, 20 Republicans and eight Democrats are on their way out of the boardroom at the end of their term.

Pelosi called Speier “an extraordinary member of Congress and an important leader” and said it was “my personal honor to share San Francisco’s representation with her.”

“Her courageous and values-based leadership, especially on behalf of women, survivors and the vulnerable, has made a difference in the lives of countless people. America and has strengthened our nation,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Before serving in Congress, Speier, 71 years old, survived Jonestown Massacre of 1978, where more than 900 people died in a mass murder-suicide. At the time, Speier was a congressional staffer for then a Representative. Leo J. Ryan. Speier was shot five times on a remote airstrip in Guyana, South America in an attack that left the congressman and four others dead as they tried to escape, an experience she highlighted in her retirement announcement. .

“Forty-three years ago this week, I was lying on the tarmac in the jungles of Guyuna with five bullet holes in my body,” Speier said in a video announcing the decision posted on her Twitter account. “I swear that if I survive, I will dedicate my life to the common good.”

“It has been a remarkable journey, surpassing even my wildest dreams,” Speier said. “Today, I announce that I will not be a candidate for re-election to Congress in 2022.”

While in Washington, she has been particularly focused on issues of sexual assault and harassment, including in the military and in Congress itself. She served on the Oversight and Reform, Intelligence and Arms committees.

When explaining why she decided not to run for re-election, Speier said, “it’s time for me to go home. Time is more than a weekend wife, mother and friend.”

Speier told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront” late Tuesday that she thinks it’s time to “pass the torch on to a new generation.”

“It doesn’t mean that I won’t participate in the community, or act publicly, on issues that interest me,” she added. “I remain very committed to the work I’ve done here in Congress and in the state legislature in California.”

While California’s independent redistricting commission has yet to complete a map of the state for 2022, Speier represents much of the San Francisco peninsula, a heavily Democratic area.

This story was updated with additional developments on Tuesday.

CONFIRMED: This story has been updated to clarify the death toll in the Jonestown tragedy.

Source link