Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a left-wing Democrat who has represented the 9th congressional district of Illinois since 1999, will reportedly announce her retirement next month at the age of 80.
Politico reported:
Rep. Jan Schakowsky is planning to announce next month she won’t seek reelection after 14 terms in the House and has started informing allies of her retirement decision, according to two people granted anonymity to describe the private conversations.
The veteran Illinois Democrat, 80, confirmed in a statement that an announcement is forthcoming, though she did not say what it would entail: “I’m going to announce my plans on May 5th. Stay tuned,” she said. Schakowsky’s annual Ultimate Women’s Power Lunch is set for that date in Chicago.
Schakowsky is a former left-wing consumer activist who became a state legislator and then ran for Congress upon the retirement of long-term Rep. Sidney R. Yates (D-IL). She won a three-way Democratic primary in 1998, one that included billionaire J.B. Pritzker, who is currently serving his second term as governor.
Her political ambitions took a hit, however, when her husband, fellow activist Robert Creamer, was convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion.
Schakowsky remained a junior player in Washington, occasionally rising to national prominence through mishaps, such as when she recently claimed that few women were interested in manufacturing because it had the word “man” in it.
More seriously, she proclaimed in 2009 that Obamacare would “put the private health insurance industry out of business” — and she meant that as an argument in favor of the legislation, not against it.
Schakowsky was an early supporter of the radical left-wing group J Street, which frequently opposes Israel. Though elected by a disproportionately Jewish district, her positions on Israel shifted over a quarter century, from modest support to frequent opposition, as she stood in solidarity with anti-Israel voices in Congress. Last year, she was one of 77 members of Congress — all Democrats — backing an arms embargo on Israel.
Throughout her tenure, Schakowsky rarely faced a serious challenge, though this author ran against her in 2010 and mounted an energetic, unabashedly conservative campaign. (She later apologized to Orthodox Jews for targeting her opponent’s faith during a speech looking back at the 2010 campaign at a J Street event.)
Schakowsky recently acquired a primary challenger: YouTube “progressive” Kat Abughazaleh, who used to work for George Soros’s censorship organization, Media Matters, though she only recently moved to the state. Abughazaleh, whose father is Palestinian, has been pushing Democrats to take a harder line against Trump.
Two more likely contenders, State Sen. Laura Fine and Evanston, IL, Mayor Daniel Biss, are also expected to run. Fine is believed to have the edge. News of Schakowsky’s announcement broke the same day as news that another Illinois Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the No. 2 leader in the caucus, will retire after next year.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
