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Hilda Solis Steps Down As Labor Secretary, Is Expected To Run For Board Of Supervisors
Secretary of Labor Hilda L Solis is interviewed by Mary Jordan of Washington Post Live for "Leading the Way: Women in 2012" on December 5, 2012 (Photo by US Department of Labor via Flickr)
Former San Gabriel Valley Congressman Hilda Solis said that she is stepping down from her current post as the U.S. Secretary of Labor. Solis is the fifth elected official to step down from President Barack Obama's cabinet since the election, according to Slate. But the Associated Press notes that her resignation probably has more to do with local than national politics: it is expected that Solis is stepping down so she can run for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
Solis announced her resignation in a letter to her staff today, which was reprinted in full on Slate:
Over the Christmas and New Year holidays with my family in California, I enjoyed my first opportunity in years to reflect on the past and my future, with an open mind and an open heart. After much discussion with family and close friends, I have decided to begin a new future, and return to the people and places I love and that have inspired and shaped my life. This afternoon, I submitted my resignation to President Obama. Growing up in a large Mexican-American family in La Puente, California, I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to serve in a president’s Cabinet, let alone in the service of such an incredible leader.
In 2009, Solis was sworn in as the first Hispanic woman to take charge of labor, though she
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