A Republican congresswoman has said she will not run for re-election next year, claiming “DC is broken”.
Debbie Lesko, from Arizona, said in a statement that traveling to Washington each month had also proven difficult.
“I have decided not to run for re-election in 2024. I want to spend more time with my husband, my 94-year-old mother, my three children, and my five grandchildren,” Lesko said, per Politico.
“Right now, Washington DC is broken; it is hard to get anything done. Please know that I will continue my work to improve Congress and to help my constituents and the American people. We must all work toward that end.”
Lesko, an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, is a former school board member and state lawmaker. She won her House seat in a special election in 2018.
The House of Representatives is currently in a state of paralysis after Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy – a Republican – from his position as speaker.
That move, and Republicans’ subsequent inability to decide on a new speaker, has left the House leaderless for the past two weeks, even as Congress faces a government funding deadline and a war has broken out in the Middle East.
Lesko has sponsored 28 bills during the current Congress, according to the Center for Effective Lawmaking. None have become law. She has spent recent days posting on X that transgender people should have their access limited to sports.
In early October, Lesko said she was supporting Steve Scalise for speaker of the House. After Scalise withdrew his name from contention, Lesko voted for Jim Jordan in his unsuccessful first ballot for speaker on Tuesday.
