WASHINGTON — Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) became the latest member of Congress to announce her retirement during a new interview published Friday after having furiously denied talk of her stepping down as a “crazy rumor.”
The 83-year-old congresswoman told the Miami Herald it was “time” to leave office and that she had refrained from doing so before over concerns for ensuring the future of a mentorship program she had created.
Wilson, who is often seen on Capitol Hill sporting matching pink cowboy hats and suits, also indicated that Florida Republicans’ move to pursue a mid-decade redistricting had given her pause.
“I figured if I announced that I was retiring, what would the Legislature and the governor do? What would they say? Would District 24 be an easy target because Frederica is no longer there? I’m a strong candidate,” she said. “With me not here, would that weaken the survival of District 24?”
The new maps in Florida won’t drastically alter its composition and are expected to keep it a Democratic-leaning district.
The eight-term Florida Democrat is one of two dozen members of Congress over the age of 80 and had told Axios just six days prior, when pressed on whether she would retire imminently: “It’s a crazy rumor. A crazy crazy rumor. I’m almost distraught. It’s not true. I am still planning on running.”
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert and Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones have both been floated as possible replacements. Physician and retired Air Force Col. Rudolph Moise has already entered the Democratic primary race, which is scheduled for Aug. 18.
Wilson has been largely absent from her legislative duties on Capitol Hill in the past month following eye surgery.
But in April she had been urging Americans to head into the streets and dial in “threatening” calls to Republican lawmakers’ offices in protest of federal immigration enforcement in Florida.
“I’ve been giving out the phone numbers to the House of Representatives and to the Senate,” she said after touring Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Krome Detention Center in Miami.
“It’s one number that number you call and you threaten it, and you say, ‘This is wrong. This is not America. This is not what we stand for. We need a change.’ You have to do that. It’s going to take the people. We’ve done it,” she declared.
The non-partisan Cook Political Report still rates the 24th Congressional District, which comprises portions of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, as a solidly Democratic seat for the November election.
Notably, Wilson claimed to the Miami Herald that she isn’t planning on retiring from politics entirely, suggesting at one point in her interview, “I might just run for governor.”
Reps for Wilson’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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