Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer Announces That She Will Retire From Senate In 2016

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Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer announced on her website that she will retire from the Senate at the end of her current term. Boxer will not be running for reelection in 2016, and her departure will create a rare open Senate seat in deeply blue California.

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In a message on her website, Sen. Boxer (D-CA) made it clear that she is not retiring completely from politics, “I am never going to retire. The work is too important, but I will not be running for the Senate in 2016. I’m going to continue working on the issues that I love. I’ll have more time to help other people through my PAC For Change community. I have to make sure this Senate seat stays progressive. That is so critical, and I want to help our Democratic candidate for president make history. But you know what? I want to come home. I want to come home to the state that I love so much, California.”

Boxer’s announcement should set off a mad scramble among Democrats in the state. Already the names of California Attorney General Kamala Harris and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom are being floated as potential Senate candidates. The race for the Democratic nomination in the state should be extremely competitive and interesting. Sen. Boxer has spent more than two decades in the Senate and a previous decade in the House.

Sen. Boxer has been an outspoken liberal senator. She has been a strong voice pro-choice issues, election reform, and the environment. She has been a staunch defender of Social Security and Medicare. Sen. Boxer was an outspoken critic of the Iraq war who voted against the use of force in resolution in Iraq. She will be missed in the United States Senate.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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