Republican Rep. Martha Roby of Alabama announced Friday that she will not seek reelection for a sixth congressional term in 2020, though she did not cite a reason in her announcement for why she was leaving Congress.
“Together, we have been able to deliver some incredible results for our military, veterans, agriculture community, and the unborn,” Roby said in a statement. “We are not finished yet. While my name will not be on the ballot in 2020, I remain committed to continuing the fight for Alabama and the people I represent until I cast my last vote on the floor of the United States House of Representatives.”
Roby follows fellow Republican Rep. Susan Brooks of Indiana as the latest female GOP House member to announce plans to leave Capitol Hill. Brooks said in June she would her retire at the end of her term.
The news of her retirement comes as House Republicans are grappling with how to win back the majority they lost to Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections — and how toincrease the diminished ranks of House Republican women.
Only one new Republican woman was elected to the House of Representatives and the number of House GOP women dropped from 23 women in the last session of Congress to now just 13 House Republican women.
“We absolutely need a lot more women in the United States House who are Republicans,” Brooks told CNN in an interview earlier in the year.
