Graves, McCarthy’s top ally, chooses not to seek re-election in Louisiana

Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) announced Friday that he will not run for re-election in November, ending months of speculation about whether he would run for another term after redistricting impacted his House seat.

Graves — who has served in the House since 2015, was a key ally of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and played a key role in last year’s negotiations to lift the debt limit — revealed his retirement after the Supreme Court ruled for the last time. month in which Louisiana could use a new map that created a second majority-Black House district for the 2024 general election.

The second black-majority seat in the House was won in the Graves district.

“After much constituent input, consultation with supporters, family consensus, and guidance from the Almighty, it is clear that running for Congress this year does not make sense,” Graves said. said in a statement reported by local Louisiana media outlets.

The battle over redistricting Louisiana maps began brewing several years ago. In 2022, then-Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) vetoed congressional maps presented by Republicans, which had a majority-black House district, despite black Louisianans making up a third of the population.

This Legislature overrode his veto, causing the matter to go through the judicial system before reaching the Supreme Court. The high court allowed the maps to be used through the 2022 cycle, before later clearing the way for new maps to be implemented in 2024 — a decision that came on the heels of another related Supreme Court ruling that concluded that the maps of the Alabama Congress likely violated the Voting Rights Act.

The new state-created map, however, came at Graves’ expense, as Republicans gained a second black-majority district from his House seat. The decision to run would have left Graves no choice but to likely primary another Republican.

The Louisiana Republican nodded to the new lines in his statement announcing his future plans.

“It is clear that a race in any temporary district will do permanent damage to Louisiana’s large representation in Congress,” he said. “Campaigning in any of these districts now is not fair to any Louisianans who will inevitably be thrown into another district next year.”

Graves did not shy away from criticizing the new maps. In January, he warned that Louisiana’s “stupid” new lines could put Republicans at risk of losing their House majority in November.

“By doing this, [Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)] has a two-seat majority and they effectively took away one of those seats voluntarily,” Graves said. USA Today Network in an interview. “What happens if this causes Republicans to lose the House?”

“It was a stupid move to do what was done last week – a real mess. Nobody campaigned on these issues,” she added.

Graves is the 25th House Republican — and the 50th member of the chamber — to announce he will leave the lower chamber at the end of his current term to retire or seek another position, according to the House Press Gallery.

His planned departure means that the three top Republicans who helped negotiate last year’s debt limit deal — which prevented the U.S. from falling into its first economic default — will not be in Congress next term.

McCarthy resigned from the House in December after being removed as speaker in October, marking the first successful vacate motion in history.

Rep. Patrick McHenry (RN.C.) — who played a key role in debt limit negotiations before serving as president pro tempore following McCarthy’s removal from the top job — announced in December that he would not seek re-election in November, putting an end to his nearly two-decade tenure in Congress.

Graves was first elected to represent Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District in the House in 2014, filling the seat that Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) vacated to run for the upper chamber.

Graves currently serves as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee. He is also a member of the House Natural Resources Committee.

In his statement announcing his retirement, Graves said it was “a great disappointment” to miss an opportunity to “advocate for Louisiana’s priorities” on the committee.

Graves’ departure is also a blow to the McCarthy-aligned faction of the wing, which has seen several members opt for re-election again and amid lasting turmoil within the House.

“Representing South Louisiana and serving in the United States Congress has been an incredible honor,” Graves said in his statement Friday. “From the beginning and ever since, we have consistently emphasized that our decisions and actions are based first and foremost on what is best for Louisianans. Our achievements confirm our firm commitment to this goal.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story