Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) said Friday she would not seek reelection at the end of her term, becoming the second Republican woman this year to announce her retirement from the House.
“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 said in a statement.
Two other Republican members of the House ― Reps. Paul Mitchell (Mich.) and Pete Olson (Texas) ― also announced their retirements this week.
Roby is one of just 13 Republican women in the House and the second to announce her intention to retire. Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.), the recruitment chair for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in June she would not seek reelection in 2020.
Roby’s departure signals another blow to the GOP, which is experiencing a 25-year low in female representation in the House.
As Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told Politico following Brooks’ retirement announcement: “In a party whose leadership continually marginalizes women’s voices, losing Congresswoman Brooks, who was working hard to recruit women to run for office, underscores the problem Washington Republicans have created for themselves.”
Roby was first elected to serve Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District in 2010, and she’s largely taken mainstream conservative positions on social and economic issues over the course of her five terms.
The congresswoman called for President Donald Trump to “step aside” during his 2016 campaign following the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump could be heard making lewd and degrading comments about women.
Roby said she would not vote for Trump because his “behavior makes him unacceptable as a candidate for president.”
She mended her relationship with Trump following the election, and the president endorsed Roby during her campaign for reelection in 2018.