Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who has represented parts of San Mateo County and San Francisco in Congress since 2008, announced Tuesday she will not seek reelection in 2022.
“It’s time for me to come home — time for me to be more than a weekend wife, mother and friend,” Speier, 71, said in a video announcing her decision. “It’s been an extraordinary privilege and honor to represent the people of San Mateo County and San Francisco at almost every level of government for nearly four decades.”
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In the video, Speier also recounted her improbable survival of the 1978 Jonestown massacre outside a cult compound in Guyana led by Jim Jones. She had traveled there as a legislative aide with her then-boss, Rep. Leo Ryan (D-Calif.), on a fact-finding mission after reports of abuse at the cult. As they were preparing to leave Jonestown, cult members opened fire on them, killing five, including Ryan. Speier was seriously wounded.
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“Forty-three years ago this week, I was lying on an airstrip in the jungles of Guyana with five bullet holes in my body,” Speier said. “I vowed that if I survived, I would dedicate my life to public service. I lived and I served. It’s been a remarkable journey that has surpassed my wildest dreams.”
Speier first ran for Congress in 1979 in a special election to fill Ryan’s seat. She did not win but went on to serve in local government, then in the California State Assembly and Senate. She first was elected to Congress in 2008 when she won a special election for what was then California’s 12th Congressional District.
On Tuesday, Speier also thanked her constituents for their support and for giving her “the latitude to fashion legislation that has truly changed the lives of thousands upon thousands of people.” She has spoken out in particular against sexual harassment, sharing in 2017 that she had previously been harassed in Congress and urging others to feel safe sharing their own experiences as well.
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“I was attacked as a congressional staffer, and I remember the fear and shame,” she tweeted then. “Many of us have a #MeToo story because Congress has been a hostile workplace for far too long. It must stop. It’s time 4 #MeTooCongress”
Speier has also sponsored and advocated for legislation to overhaul the way the military handles sexual assault cases.
“We certainly feel very strongly that these cases have to be taken out of the chain of command,” Speier said in May.
On Tuesday, Speier said she remained focused on her last year in office. She also said there was “another chapter or two in my book of life” that she intended to devote to “the communities I love on the peninsula and San Francisco.”