Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, the first Mexican American woman ever elected to Congress, will not seek reelection, continuing an exodus of longtime Democrats ahead of the 2022 midterms — but also clearing a path for a rising member of her party.
Roybal-Allard, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on homeland security, announced her retirement on Monday, Dec. 20. Her three-decade career in Congress will end next year.
She was one of three House Democrats to announce on Monday they would not seek reelection, bringing the total number of retirements before the midterm elections to 23, according to the Washington Post. Reps. Stephanie Murphy of Florida and Albio Sires of New Jersey also said they would step away.
Locally, Roybal-Allard’s departure, following Rep. Alan Lowenthal’s similar announcement last week, will only add to the current upending of decades of congressional consistency. The state’s redistricting process has also wrought changes to the area’s political map.
Roybal-Allard, however, said in a Monday evening interview that the new maps, announced that same day, had nothing to do with her retirement, despite previously expressing frustration about the redistricting process.
“I almost retired last election,” she said, “and decided to finish out the term.
“I’ll have been in Congress for 30 years,” Roybal-Allard, D-Commerce, added. “In talking with my family, the decision was, ‘Now is the right time.’ I’m 80 and will be 81 in June. It takes a lot of energy and time to establish yourself in any new district, and in all fairness to constituents of both my current district and those in the new district, now is the best time.”
Roybal-Allard, who was born in Boyle Heights, was first elected to Congress in 1992. She continued the legacy of her father, the late Rep. Edward R. Roybal, and her mother, Lucille Beserra Roybal, a Latino community activist.
Her 40th Congressional District includes Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Downey, Huntington Park, Maywood, Paramount, Vernon and portions of Bellflower, East Los Angeles, Florence-Firestone and South Los Angeles.
But the redistricting process will change that.
The finalized maps, which came out Monday but have not yet been approved, essentially combine Roybal-Allard’s 40th District with Lowenthal’s 47th.
The new district, dubbed the 42nd, omits the portions of Orange County Lowenthal currently represents and absorbs nearly all of Roybal-Allard’s 40th. Long Beach will be the largest city in that district, same as for Lowenthal’s 47th.
The new district looks, potentially, even safer for Democrats, with the generally more conservative Little Saigon now in a separate district from progressive Long Beach.
Into the void left by Lowenthal’s retirement, meanwhile, stepped Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia.
Garcia, the first Latino and openly gay leader of that city, took just one day after Lowenthal announced his retirement to formally declare his bid for Congress. That move could have set up a possibly competitive Democratic showdown with Roybal-Allard.
Until she, too, opted not to run again.
Garcia, in a Monday statement, lauded the longtime congresswoman.
“Congresswoman Roybal-Allard is a trailblazer and has been a fearless advocate for Los Angeles and the Southeast cities,” he said. “She has been an incredible national leader on immigration, equality, and for working families. I am tremendously grateful for her leadership and service to our country and our community.”
With Roybal-Allard and Lowenthal both bowing out, Garcia is almost certainly the front-runner.
“It’s possible other politically ambitious people could jump in, but he’s gotten off to an early start,” said Jack Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College. “At the moment, he looks to have a very, very strong chance of being a new member of Congress at the start of 2023.”
Roybal-Allard, for her part, reflected on her legacy Monday evening.
She is most proud of a bill that requires testing newborns for treatable genetic disorders, the congresswoman said in an interview. But among her unfulfilled goals is that the Dream Act has yet to pass. The Dream Act would permanently protect certain immigrants who came to the United States as children but are vulnerable to deportation.
“Serving my constituents in Congress,” Roybal-Allard said in a statement earlier Monday, “has been the single most distinguished honor of my life.
“Over my many years of public service,” she added, “I have always strived to do that which is best to help improve my community and my country.”