Members of Congress running for row offices

[Oryxslayer]

Rep. Xavier Becerra was appointed CA AG in 2017 by Gov. Brown after Harris resigned to take her senate seat. Becerra was later elected in his own right before Biden named him HHS Secretary.

Hilda Solis is also kind of interesting. She was in congress before she became Labor Secretary during Obama's 1st term. After leaving the federal govt. in 2013, she was elected to the LA County Board of Supervisors in 2014 and has remained there since.

Janice Hanh also retired to become an LA Supervisor.

I’m not an expert on CA politics, but it seems like these Board of Supervisor positions are pretty important/powerful, enough so that several members of Congress have left to run for them. Gloria Negrete McLeod retired from Congress to (unsuccessfully) run for San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in 2014.

I believe there was also an San Bernardino R who retired to run for that same body in 2020. Going from Supervisor to House is a downgrade.

I don’t know if I’d call it a downgrade as they’re two very different roles. Supervisors have great power in their county, yes, but no power outside it. House members may be small but you have access to more power and information on a national scale than a supervisor.

Something else to mention in regards to Southern California Supervisors: there are only 5 of them on each county body. So the districts one would be running for are often times comparably sized to Congressional seats, in LA's case much larger. So it is an 'upgrade' - or at worst a sidegrade - in terms of constituents represented and serviced.

[Del Tachi]

For some reason, I thought Trey Gowdy was/had ran for Attorney General of South Carolina.  But I guess I'm wrong.  Maybe one day! 

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

Found this guy, Philip H. Hayes was a congressman in the 1970s then served as a county attorney for Vanderburgh County in 2001-2002. Not retire to run but still and interesting move.

Also found Thomas Hartnett who retired in 1986 to run for Lt. Governor of SC, but lost to Nick Theodore.

Jim Mattox retired his house seat in Texas in '83 to run for AG and served for 8 years.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I long wanted a thread on all politicians running for lower office, so maybe I'll get that done some day.

Who additionally comes to mind is Gordon J. Humphrey of New Hampshire, who went from being a US senator to running for state senate instead of seeking reelection in 1990. I didn't know him before as a Republican he endorsed Biden's presidential campaign.

Also noteworthy is Claude Pepper of Florida, who was a senator and later ran for the House.

While he wasn't a member of congress, Eliot Spitzer also comes to mind. In 2013, he ran for New York City Comptroller and narrowly lost in the Democratic primary.

Going back further, Millard Fillmore was New York state comptroller after his service in the House. He then went on to be vice president and president.

Ohhh, a thread of politicians running for lower office would be interesting! I have some examples in mind if you get around to creating it.

A prominent example from much earlier in American history is John Quincy Adams, who after the then-common cursus honorum of various diplomatic and executive branch positions culminating in the Presidency ran for the House and served from 1831 until his death in 1848. He was a very active and outspoken Congressman, too, and at the time of his death was the highest-profile opponent of slavery in the federal government.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Somehow Oakland managed to have a 2 term governor and also someone who served 27 years in congress as mayors this century.

[JMT]

Looks like Greg Pence may run for a row office (Lt. Gov)

https://twitter.com/politics1com/status/1688661799892119552?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno...

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

Looks like Greg Pence may run for a row office (Lt. Gov)

https://twitter.com/politics1com/status/1688661799892119552?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno...

That’s a good get for her. Wonder if it’ll help her close the gap with Braun

[Not Me, Us]

Stan Lundine ran for Lt. Governor of New York in 1986 after a decade in the House.

[JMT]

Looks like Greg Pence may run for a row office (Lt. Gov)

https://twitter.com/politics1com/status/1688661799892119552?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno...

That’s a good get for her. Wonder if it’ll help her close the gap with Braun

Apparently he’s still considering the offer, it’s not official yet. But what’s interesting here is that state party delegates select the Lt. Gov nominees, it’s not decided by voters in a primary, or by the gubernatorial nominees themselves. So while Crouch can urge the delegates to select Pence as a running mate, it’s not guaranteed they’d listen (and, if Crouch is losing to Braun, she may not have sway here).

[Sir Mohamed]

Another one from a long time ago: William Stephens retired from congress in 1916 and was named lt. gov. under Hiram Johnson. When latter resigned to assume his role as senator in 1917, Stephens became governor. He was elected to a full term in 1918, but lost the primary 4 years later.

[JMT]

Add Jaime Herrera Beutler to the list:

https://twitter.com/jim_brunner/status/1711465619953246598?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno4...

[JMT]

Jeff Landry

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

John Fleming is a former member, but barring a dead girl/live boy-tier scandal, he should be a lock to win the Treasurer runoff.

[Atlas Force]

Ken Hechler, who represented West Virginia's 4th congressional district (which no longer exists and was eliminated in the 1990s redistricting) from 1959 to 1977, later served as the Mountain State's Secretary of State from 1985 to 2001.

He also ran in 2010 at the age of 96 in the Democratic primary for the US Senate against the man who had succeeded him as Secretary of State, Joe Manchin. Hechler ran to raise awareness about the negative impact of mountaintop removal, an issue he had become an activist on in his later years.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

The difference with Landry, Herrera Beutler and people like Bishop is that Bishop is retiring to run for a row office, whereas Landry/Herrera Beutler returned to politics after loosing a primary

[Senator Incitatus]

Jeff Landry

That one kind of worked out for him, huh?

Hechler ran to raise awareness about the negative impact of mountaintop removal, an issue he had become an activist on in his later years.

Nice.

[JMT]

Add Jeff Jackson to the list. He’s running for AG. Interestingly, he’ll likely face off against another member of Congress (Dan Bishop).

https://twitter.com/jeffjacksonnc/status/1717541579404038249?s=46&t=-r8JGlJn...

[BigZuck08]

Add Jeff Jackson to the list. He’s running for AG. Interestingly, he’ll likely face off against another member of Congress (Dan Bishop).

https://twitter.com/jeffjacksonnc/status/1717541579404038249?s=46&t=-r8JGlJn...

Endorsed!

[JMT]

Also, apparently this will only be the second time ever that two House incumbents will face off for a state AG post:

https://twitter.com/dkelections/status/1717546303532498956?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno4...