"Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., plans to announce her retirement this morning, according to the Los Angeles Times and others. The Times, citing a congressional source, says that the 76-year-old Democrat 'was tiring of the cross-country trips and wanted to spend time with her mother, who recently turned 100.'"
Watson was the first African-American to be elected to the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education in 1975, according to her biography. She also served in the state Senate and was appointed by then-President Clinton in 1999 to serve as ambassador to Micronesia. She went to Congress in 2001 after winning a special election to complete the term of the late Rep. Julian Dixon.
Her expected retirement announcement will come a day after Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Mich., announced he would not seek a 9th term, as we reported yesterday.