Florida Democrat Deutch announces he won’t run for reelection
February 28, 2022
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Rep. Ted Deutch is joining the exodus of Democrats leaving Congress, announcing on Monday that he would not seek another term for the safe South Florida seat he has held for the past 12 years.
The Boca Raton Democrat and chair of the House Ethics Committee is stepping down in order to become chief executive officer for the American Jewish Committee. News of Deutch’s retirement was first reported by Jewish Insider and CBS Miami. He is the 31st House Democrat to announce that they will not run for reelection.
“In my seven terms in Congress, I have worked hard and tried to find common ground,” Deutch said in a statement. “I’m proud of my work to make our communities safer from gun violence, strengthen social security and protect our most vulnerable seniors, and ensure Holocaust survivors can live in dignity.”
Deutch is yet another Florida Democratic incumbent who is exiting ahead of what could be a massive Republican wave that returns control of the House to the GOP. Two other Florida Democrats — Reps. Stephanie Murphy and Charlie Crist — are also not returning to Congress in 2023. Crist is leaving office to run for governor against Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Julia Friedland, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, was gleeful that Deutch is leaving.
“Good choice on retirement, Ted Deutch,” Friedland said in a statement. “Don’t worry — you’ll be joined by more of your Democrat friends soon enough.”
Deutch’s seat consists of neighborhoods in Broward and Palm Beach counties and the GOP-controlled Legislature is considering new maps that would keep the district in Democratic hands.
Multiple Democrats are seen as potential candidates for the seat, including Jared Moskowitz, a Broward County commissioner and former legislator who was DeSantis’s emergency management chief. Other possible candidates include Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg, who is a mainstay on MSNBC, as well as state Sens. Tina Scott Polsky (D-Boca Raton) and Gary Farmer (D-Fort Lauderdale).
Deutch, a former state legislator who was first elected in a special election to succeed Rep. Robert Wexler, has been a staunch ally of Israel during his time in office. Deutch in 2019 took to the House floor to urge his colleagues to condemn anti-Semitism amid an outcry over remarks made by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) where she described support for Israel as “allegiance to a foreign country.”
Deutch also became a leading advocate for additional gun control measures in the aftermath of the massacre at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland — which is located in Deutch’s district. Seventeen students and teachers were killed during the shooting.
Deutch is a founding co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism. In his statement, Deutch said that there has been an “unprecedented rise in antisemitism in our own country and abroad” and that by joining the American Jewish Committee, he can continue to do “this critical work” on a “global scale.”
Source: https://www.politico.com/
