CALLING IT QUITS

GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko Announces She’s Retiring Amid Speaker Drama

“Washington is broken,” she said in a pointed statement.

Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) said Tuesday she would not seek re-election in 2024, pointedly noting “Washington is broken” in a statement announcing her retirement plans. The 64-year-old also cited her grueling schedule as a reason for packing it in, saying it was hard to spend so much time away from her family. “Spending, on average, three weeks out of every month away from my family, and traveling back and forth to Washington, D.C. almost every weekend is difficult,” she said in her statement. “Right now, Washington, D.C. is broken; it is hard to get anything done.” Lesko’s announcement came hours after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) fell short of the votes he needed to be elected the new Speaker of the House, a position that has now been open for two stormy weeks. An alumnus of both the Arizona House and Senate, Lesko was elected to Congress in a special election in 2018. She represents Arizona’s 8th congressional district, a solid Republican stronghold.