Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a leading voice of House Democrats’ moderate wing, announced Monday she won’t seek reelection next fall in another stinging loss for her party.
The Florida Democrat — who flipped a GOP-held battleground seat in 2016 and helped write the party’s playbook for its House takeover two years later — said she is leaving the Hill to spend more time with her family, including her two school-aged children.
“It's been a real honor for me to serve in Congress, but it does come at a personal sacrifice. My time away has been hard on my family and my kids and on me,” Murphy told POLITICO.
A leader of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, Murphy once mulled a challenge against Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) next fall. Instead, she said she will leave after finishing her current term in the House, where she and other moderates hope to help salvage President Joe Biden’s climate and social spending bill.
Murphy said she hopes “to open a new chapter in my life, one in which I can spend a bit more time with my family.”
Murphy is the 22nd incumbent House Democrat to forgo a reelection bid next year.
