WASHINGTON—Veteran Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California said Thursday she won't run for re-election in 2016, continuing an exodus of longtime liberal lawmakers from Congress.

Ms. Boxer, 74 years old and a vocal Democratic presence in the Senate since 1993, announced her plans to leave the Senate in a video interview with her grandson posted Thursday.

“I am never going to retire—the work is too important, but I will not be running for the Senate in 2016,” Ms. Boxer said.

Ms. Boxer’s plan to depart from the Senate adds to a long string of retirements of influential liberals over the past two years, including fellow California Democrats and powerful committee chairmen Reps. George Miller and Henry Waxman , both of whom retired at the end of 2014.

The top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Ms. Boxer has focused on protecting the environment, highlighting liberal concerns over climate change and resisting GOP attempts to limit when women can choose to have abortions, among other legislative priorities.

Ms. Boxer used her previous perch as chairman of the committee to champion environmental causes but regularly ran into opposition when she tried to advance her agenda. Her most ambitious effort—legislation to combat climate change by requiring companies to buy permits to release greenhouse-gas emissions—imploded in 2010, when Democrats from coal and manufacturing states joined Senate Republicans to oppose it. Then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) never again tried to bring the plan up for a vote on the Senate floor.
Ms. Boxer’s retirement opens the door for a fierce competition for her successor in a state that has seen no turnover for more than two decades. Fellow California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein was elected to her seat in November 1992.

Democrats said they were confident the seat would remain in their hands. President Barack Obama won more than 60% of the vote in California in the 2012 contest with GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney .

“I appreciate that Senator Boxer has made an early decision, giving us more than enough time to get behind a strong Democratic candidate who will hold this seat,” said Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, chairman of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm.

Potential Democratic candidates include California Attorney General Kamala Harris, the state’s Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

On the GOP side, potential contenders include former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer ; former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Carly Fiorina ; current Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Meg Whitman ; Neel Kashkari, who ran the Troubled Asset Relief Program after the financial crisis; and Steve Poizner, who ran for California governor in 2010.

more @ http://www.wsj.com/articles/sen-barbara-...2016-1420736090

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It amazes me that she walks upright.

Not to worry. CA is sure to find someone to replace her who is just as ditzy.

Karl Rove says this is an easy GOP pickup. Send all your dollars to the RNC to make it happen.