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Sen. Barbara Boxer Won't Run For Reelection, Setting California Up For A Big Political Battle
Longtime US Senator Barbara Boxer announced today that she will not be running for the seat that she has held since 1992 for the 2016 election. That sets the stage for a big, likely expensive political battle among California Democrats, who haven't had a shot at a senate seat since Boxer was elected (Sen. Dianne Feinstein was elected the same year).
Boxer made her announcement in a video in which her grandson plays the role of a reporter grilling her about her future. Boxer says that it wasn't Washington gridlock that prompted her decision nor was the fact she's 74 a consideration: "Some people are old at 40, and some people are young at 80. ... As for me, I feel as young as I did when I was elected. I was in my 50s when I was elected to the Senate."
She says that she's not retiring from public life but she does want to come home (though she made her career in the Bay Area, she lives in Rancho Mirage). She said she's committed to fighting for her PAC for A Change and making sure her senate seat stays progressive. She adds, "I want to come home."
She concluded with a rhyme:
"The Senate is the place where I've always made my case For families, for the planet, and the human race.
More than 20 years in a job I love
Thanks to California and the Lord above.
So although I won't be working for my Senate space,
and I won't be running in that next tough race,
as long as there are issues and challenges and strife
I will never retire, 'cause that's the meaning of my life."
I love my job and I love my city and I am committed to the work here. I will not run for Sen. Boxer's seat. http://t.co/eqZmTc2zT4
— Eric Garcetti (@ericgarcetti) January 8, 2015
Even though the move was expected, the timing did catch Nancy Pelosi off-guard.
Pelosi said she had just received a call beforehand from Boxer asking to speak to her personally: "I thought she wanted to have dinner tonight."