![]() ![]() He also offered and secured passage of an amendment for fiscal 2020 to increase funding by $2 million for the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program to help clear rape kit backlogs. He helped secure passage of the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act in 2019 to increase public access to cold-case records and to help bring closure to families. Rush has his share of congressional accomplishments. I can’t even imagine myself retiring into some kind of easy chair.” In October, he told POLITICO, “What’s the hurry? I’ll announce in January.” And last month, he told POLITICO’s The Recast, “I’m going to be an activist as long as I’m here in the land of the living. ![]() The veteran lawmaker was expected to ease into another victory this year, but he had yet to officially announce. The future president described that Democratic primary loss as getting “my rear end handed to me.” And Rush savored it. The victory is legend in Chicago political circles as the only race Obama ever lost. Rush has seen his share of political challengers over the years, including Barack Obama, who was famously bested in a primary by Rush in 2000 - 61 percent to 30 percent. In 1999, he ran for mayor, losing to then-incumbent Mayor Richard M. His son, Huey Rich, was killed in an armed robbery on the city’s South Side.īefore Capitol Hill, Rush served on Chicago’s City Council and was a leader in the state’s Democratic Party, becoming a close ally of former House Speaker Michael Madigan. His crusade started after the police killings of Black Panthers’ Fred Hampton (whom Rush recruited) and Mark Clark, but 30 years later, it became even more personal. Rush has been an advocate against gun violence long before the issue became today’s center of discussion. “I am a little surprised, but I wish him the very best as he starts another chapter.” Robin Kelly, who heads the Illinois Democratic Party, wrote in a text message. “I am sure it was not an easy decision when he has given so many years of his life to the First District,” Rep. But Rush’s announcement is shaking up Chicago’s political landscape, with numerous Illinois politicos already putting out feelers that they’re interested in replacing him. Rush’s 1st District, which encompasses much of Chicago’s South Side, would remain in Democratic hands, so his exit won’t cut into the party’s shaky hold on the House. I think Democrats are in prime position to retake the house and increase their numbers in the Senate.” I don’t believe in Ouija boards, I don’t believe in forecasting the future - none of that. The prospect of Democrats losing the House did not influence his decision, he said. The bill has been approved by the House Judiciary Committee this Congress, but has not been taken up by the full House or Senate. Rush has introduced the measure, which would designate lynching a federal crime, several times - including exactly a year ago Tuesday. The announcement location is symbolic as Rush hopes to get the Emmett Till Antilynching bill signed into law this year. The veteran lawmaker who went from fist-raising militant to a mainstream, albeit left-leaning, congressman will announce his plans on Tuesday at the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ, the revered Chicago location of the 1955 funeral of 14-year-old Emmett Till. “I’m just entering into a new level of my life,” he said. “I’m coming home to my church located in the heart of South Side of the city of Chicago,” Rush said, referring to the Beloved Community Church of God in Christ, where he serves as pastor. His plan: to focus on his work as a pastor, where he hopes to maintain sway over voters who sent him to Congress 30 years ago. “I am not ready to go off to some spot in the sun, sit on nobody’s beach drinking tequila.” “First of all, I’m not retiring man, alright?” he said in an interview.
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