Rep. Cheri Bustos, former House Democratic campaign chief, will retire in 2022
Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos will not run for reelection in 2022 after a decade in office and disappointing Democrats in her 2020 performance as the chairwoman of the House Democratic campaign arm, she announced Friday.
Bustos is one of seven House Democrats serving in districts former President Donald Trump carried in 2020. Her announcement came days after the Census Bureau said that her state would lose a House seat.
In a statement, Bustos’ office touted her work on a variety of issues — the economy, health care, infrastructure, agriculture, for veterans — and in response to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as her “Supermarket Saturday” events, which helped her understand what her constituents wanted from her in Washington.
“From helping Gold Star families and injured veterans get the help they needed after serving our nation, to increasing rural access to broadband, ensuring everyone has the resources needed to compete in our modern economy, to replacing toxic lead water pipes, I have always worked across the aisle to deliver solutions for Illinois families,” Bustos said in a statement. “It has been my profound honor to do this work, and I am proud of the progress we have made together.”
Bustos is perhaps best known for chairing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2020. The party expected to pick up seats but instead lost them, narrowing their majority to the smallest margin of Democratic control in decades.
After the election, Bustos announced she would not run for another term leading the DCCC, and said she was “furious” about the polling problems they had that election cycle. House Democrats then elected New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney to lead the organization in 2022.
