WASHINGTON — Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., said Monday she will not seek re-election in 2022, adding to the long list of Democratic members leaving Congress.
Murphy, a co-chair of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition and a member of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, was elected to the House in 2016. Murphy made history by becoming the first Vietnamese-American woman and only the second Vietnamese American elected to Congress.
“I strongly believe in a citizen Congress, where ordinary citizens run for office in search of duty and service, not in search of a career, and I never intended my time in Congress to become a career,” Murphy said in a video announcement.
Murphy added that the time away from her two young children has been difficult and a "personal sacrifice."
The congresswoman's announcement comes as a number of long-serving Democrats are calling it quits as the party prepares for an uphill battle to keep control of Congress in next year's midterm elections.
The 43-year-old lawmaker is the chief deputy Democratic whip and serves on both the House Ways and Means and House Armed Services committees.
Murphy would be facing a campaign with a state party in turmoil after Joe Biden won the presidency but lost Florida by a little over 3 percentage points in November. Republicans control the governor's office and both U.S. Senate seats.
