25 years on the job too long? Here’s what SC’s senior member of Congress says – By Jamie Self (thestate.com) / Nov 27 2017
After a quarter-century on the job, South Carolina’s senior member of Congress has not had enough.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, a Columbia Democrat, will seek re-election next year, he said Monday after a younger S.C. Democrat expressed an interest in running for the state’s 6th District congressional seat.
“My health is good. I feel fine,” Clyburn said, adding, “I don’t think I’ve detected any angst with the voting public about my service.”
First elected to the U.S. House in 1992, Clyburn, 77, is the assistant Democratic leader, the third-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House. He knows there is a line of potential successors ready to run when he leaves office.
“A younger person will be in my seat one day. It’s yet to be determined who that young person is,” he said.
Those possible successors include any of Clyburn’s three daughters, all interested in politics, he said.
They also include former S.C. Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison, who worked with Clyburn in the House; Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin; and former state Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-Bamberg, who now works as an attorney in Columbia.
As for 2018, Clyburn’s campaign already is sending out fundraising emails.
Clyburn said he has more work to be done and his wife, Emily, told him to stay in office.
Clyburn’s anti-poverty proposals for rural communities were included in the Obama-era economic stimulus plan, and Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan also included some of the proposals in the federal budget.
“If we cure our rural problems, the urban problems will take care of themselves,” Clyburn said. “I have much more of an experience with these kinds of communities, and I need to keep that at the forefront of what we do.”
http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article186758458.html
PB/TK – No offense to Rep Clyburn but yes 25 years is way too long for any member of Congress. Term limits! 12 years total for each Wing is more then enough. Yet people only believe in term limits for the opposition, not their guy
