Florida Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy will not run for reelection next year, Click Orlando reported on Monday.
“I strongly believe in a citizen Congress, where ordinary citizens run for office in search of duty and service, not in search of a career. And I never intended my time in Congress to become a career,” the three-term congresswoman said in a statement.
She also said she wants to spend more time with family and find new ways to give back to her country.
Murphy is the 22nd Democrat in the House to declare that she is not seeking reelection next year, according to OpenSecrets.org, a nonpartisan organization that tracks political funding.
The decision comes after Murphy faced intense scrutiny from right-wing opposition in Florida, including one of the more aggressive redistricting proposals for the state that would almost completely re-arrange her district, making it more difficult for a Democrat to win, according to Orlando Weekly.
Murphy first entered Congress after unseating 12-term Republican Rep. John Mica in 2016, Click Orlando reported, and went on to become a top member in the Democratic caucus.
Murphy stressed that “I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together over these last five years,” adding that, “I am most proud that through it all — whether the Democrats were in charge or the Republicans, whether under President Trump or President Biden — I was consistently named one of the most bipartisan and effective members of Congress. Because from day one, I have always put people over politics,” WFTV 9 reported.
Republican State Rep. Anthony Sabatini, who had declared he would challenge Murphy in next year’s election sent a tweet reacting to her dropping out of the race, saying that “our #AmericaFirst campaign for Congress is making the Swamp drain itself.”