Controversial Congressional Representative and former Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann has announced that she will not seek reelection in 2014. Representing Minnesota, the extremely conservative Bachmann has represented her Congressional district for eight years, and did not give a specific reason for declining to run for another term, though she did indicate that her decision has nothing to do with the ongoing ethics investigation into alleged misconduct during her presidential campaign in 2012.
The Huffington Post reports that Bachmann made the announcement via a video posted to both her website and Facebook page.
“After a great deal of thought and deliberation, I have decided that I will not seek a fifth congressional term,” said Bachmann in the video. “After serious consideration, I am confident that this is the right decision. Be assured, my decision was not in any way influenced by concerns about my being reelected to Congress. I have every confidence that, if I ran again, I would defeat the individual who I defeated last year, who has recently announced that he is once again running.
Bachmann compares her four terms in Congress, totaling eight years, to the eight years that a person can serve as the president of the United States. She says that, while other representatives can make their own determination, she felt that eight years was the right amount of time for her to represent Minnesota’s 6th district.
In the video, she explains that her decision is in no way influenced by the investigation into her former presidential campaign and her former presidential staff. “It was clearly understood that compliance with all rules and regulations was an absolute necessity for my presidential campaign, and I have no reason to believe that was not the case.”
Bachmann is currently under an FBI investigation as to the conduct of her presidential campaign’s chief of staff, Andy Parrish, and other staffers regarding alleged campaign finance investigations. Parrish is also being investigated for making secret payments with campaign money to campaign aide and Iowa State Senator Kent Sorenson. Parrish claims that Bachmann approved these payments.
Bachmann also stresses that she decided to run in the last Congressional election in order for the Republican Party to hold onto her seat, and that the reason she was making such an early announcement about her departure was to provide another Republican candidate adequate time to campaign properly.
