Nita Lowey, Elected To Congress In 1988, Will Not Run For Re-Election

New York Representative Nita Lowey, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, announced on Thursday that she will not seek re-election in 2020. She was elected to office in 1988.

"After 31 years in the United States Congress, representing the people of Westchester, Rockland, Queens and the Bronx, I have decided not to seek re-election in 2020," the Democratic lawmaker said in a statement. It is my deep honor and privilege to serve my community and my country, and I will always be grateful to the people who have entrusted me to represent them."

Lowey, 82, listed her other achievements (PDF) from securing funding for cleaning up the Long Island Sound and Hudson River to helping New York get its fair share of homeland security money, as well as "author[ing] legislation to institute the .08 standard of enforcement for drunk driving, which has dramatically reduced DWI fatalities" and getting federal assistance after 9/11 and Superstorm Sandy.

Lowey was also the first woman elected to chair the powerful Appropriations committee.

"I’m... going to continue to do everything I can to protect the Democratic Majority," Lowey wrote in a message to her supporters. "With so many targeted freshman members, we can’t take any race for granted, and I will invest time and resources to make sure they win. You can rest assured that, until I leave the Capitol for the last time as your Congresswoman, I will work hard every single day for the progressive values we share and an even stronger Democratic Majority."

This summer, Mondaire Jones, who worked for the Justice Department during the Obama administration as well as the Westchester Law Department, announced that he would challenge Lowey in the primary, positioning himself as a progressive alternative to Lowey. He explained, "Too many people in New York’s 17th congressional district, which includes all of Rockland and parts of central and northern Westchester, are struggling. Residents of both counties pay the highest property taxes in the nation, yet wages have remained stagnant for decades and Donald Trump’s cap on the State and Local Tax deduction added to our burdens."

Lowey last faced a primary challenger in 1988. Jones, a Stanford and Harvard Law graduate, would be the first openly gay black House member if elected. His campaign said he had raised $218,348 in the third quarter, with 64% coming from small donors, City & State ran an extensive interview with Jones just two days ago ("I call it the Tappan Zee Bridge. In parentheses, the Mario Cuomo Bridge").

Other candidates may queue up:

The New York Democratic primary is on April 28, 2020.