BOWING OUT

Rep. Bobby Rush Will Not Seek Re-Election After 30 Years in Congress

Rush, 75, is the 16th Democratic member of the House to step aside in 2022.

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) will not seek another term in office. The congressman, whose departure was reported Monday by the Chicago Sun-Times, was first elected to Congress in 1992. Also known as a founding member of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, Rush told the Sun-Times he intends to stay active in his ministry and use his life story to inspire younger generations. Rush, 75, the only man ever to have beaten Barack Obama in an election, said in an interview he’d decided to step away from public office after a conversation with his 19-year-old grandson. “I don’t want my grandchildren… to know me from a television news clip or something they read in a newspaper,” he said. Rush has also contended with health problems for years, the Chicago Tribune reports, and tested positive for COVID-19 last week. He joins a growing roster of incumbent Democrats—one senator, Pat Leahy (D-VT) and 16 House members, including Rush, as of Monday—who have declined to run again for public office.