Long-serving Democratic Reps. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island and Jerry McNerney of California announced Tuesday that they will not be seeking reelection in November, joining the more than two dozen House Democrats planning to retire after this term of Congress.
McNerney, who has served since 2007, announced that he will not run for another term in Congress, pointing to redistricting.
“Today I am announcing that I will not seek reelection in California’s newly created 9th Congressional District,” he wrote on Twitter. “I am honored that the citizens of California’s 9th Congressional District chose me as their representative in the past five elections, and that those in California’s previous 11th Congressional District gave me the privilege of representing them for three terms.”
California’s redistricting commission last month formally approved the state’s new congressional map, which still favors Democrats but could create an opportunity for Republicans in the newly created 9th District that encompasses Stockton and San Joaquin county. Rhode Island has yet to finalize its congressional map.
In a column for The Providence Journal, Langevin, who has served more than two decades in Congress, said he did not “come to this decision lightly, but it is time for me to chart a new course, which will allow me to stay closer to home and spend more time with my family and friends.”
Langevin was first elected to Congress in 2000 and became the first quadriplegic to serve in the US House.
As a 16-year-old, Langevin was left paralyzed after a gun accidentally discharged and a bullet struck him, while he was working with the Warwick Police Department as part of the Boy Scout Explorer program, according to his congressional biography.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
