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GOP Rep in Charge of Recruiting Women for 2020 Will Retire

Indiana Rep. Susan Brooks, who had been heading Republican efforts to get women to run, won’t be seeking re-election herself.

Indiana GOP Rep. Susan Brooks, who is one of just 13 female House Republicans, announced Friday that she will not seek re-election. The moderate Republican had been made the head recruitment for the National Republican Congressional Committee and was charged with electing GOP women candidates in 2020. She has represented Indiana’s 5th District since 2012, and she’ll be leaving a vacant seat that House Democrats have been targeting. Brooks told The Indianapolis Star that her decision to not run has less to do with the GOP and more to do with herself: “While it may not be time for the party, it’s time for me personally.” Brooks told the Star she does not know whether she’ll continue to head Republican congressional recruitment efforts for 2020—because she hadn’t yet told officials of her decision to retire—but said she would “guarantee a Republican victory” for her seat.