(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Thousand Oaks, announced she will retire at the end of her term.
That leaves her seat representing most of Ventura County and part of Los Angeles County open in this year’s midterm election. The seat has long been held by Democrats.
Another Thousand Oaks Democrat, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, told reporters she is considering running for Brownley’s seat. Irwin called herself the most obvious choice.
Brownley’s decision to retire comes as the longtime congresswoman’s district is redrawn as part of Proposition 50, designed to pick up five Democratic seats to counter five likely new Republican seats after redistricting in Texas.
At stake is control of the U.S. House, where Republicans currently have 218 members, the minimum number for a majority. Democrats have 213 seats. Four seats are vacant. All 435 seats are up for election in November.
An eastern part of Brownley’s district, which includes the Ventura County city of Simi Valley, will become part of the newly redrawn district for U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks.
“You’re in great hands,” Brownley wrote in a notice mailed to her constituents in Simi Valley. “Brad’s been at the forefront of standing up to Donald Trump, fighting to make life more affordable for working families, protecting our reproductive rights – and he’s dedicated to providing constituent services. That’s why he’s also supported by Governor Gavin Newsom along with U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff.”
Like Brownley, Newsom, Padilla and Schiff are Democrats.
Brownley started serving in Congress in 2013 after six years in the California Assembly. She is the second Democrat in the state to announce she won’t seek reelection in Congress.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, the former speaker of the House, announced she wouldn’t seek another term. State Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat who’s a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, announced his candidacy. Another Democrat, former engineer Saikat Chakrabarti, is running as well.
