Michigan’s Kildee Decides Not to Run for Reelection

Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., announced that he will not seek reelection after six terms in Congress due to his recent battle with cancer.

“There are times in all our lives that make you reassess your own future and path. For me, being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year was one of those moments. Thankfully, earlier this year I had successful surgery and I’m cancer-free,” said Kildee, who had a cancerous tumor in his tonsil removed last April, in a statement.

He told The Detroit News that although he had been preparing to run again, “in the back of my mind, it just didn’t feel the same.”

Kildee added, “It’s not my health, but it’s the process of reflection during the period of my recovery caused me to think hard about how I want to spend my time. I love Michigan. I love home. And this place has never been home ― Washington.”

He said, “I want to be there full time. It was one of those decisions that, while I struggled with it as I was making it, once I settled it in my mind, it just confirmed that it was right.”

The congressman noted that recent incidents on Capitol Hill, including a Republican senator’s attempt to fight a union boss during testimony and one GOP congressman accusing the former House speaker of elbowing him in the back, have “done nothing to dissuade me” of leaving.