WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier of California said Tuesday she would not run for reelection next year, the latest House Democrat to retire in the face of what could be a difficult election cycle for the party.
Speier, who has represented San Mateo County and San Francisco since 2008, said in a video announcement that it’s “time for me to come home.”
“Time for me to be more than a weekend wife, mother and friend,” said Speier, who is a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
While in Congress, Speier has been an advocate for women’s equality, LGBTQ rights and the #MeToo movement, even recounting misconduct she endured when she was a congressional aide.
This week, she co-led a resolution to censure Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., for posting an animated video depicting killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Speier said she committed her life to public service 43 years ago this week in the wake of the murder of her then-boss, Rep. Leo J. Ryan, at the Jonestown massacre in Guyana.
She was accompanying him on the trip and was shot five times. While lying injured on the airport tarmac, she “vowed that if I survived, I would dedicate my life to public service,” she recounted in the video. “I lived and I served.”
Before running for Congress, she was elected to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and the state Legislature.
Speier’s decision to vacate the Bay Area congressional district, is likely to immediately set off jockeying to be her successor, who is almost certain to be a Democrat, even after redistricting.
Still, her departure can only further fuel speculation that House Democrats are seeking the exits because they believe Republicans will take control of the House next year. The first midterm election of a president’s term is typically difficult for the president’s party. And Democrats have little room for error, holding a majority with 221 seats, compared with Republicans’ 213.
