Two House Democrats announced plans to retire on Wednesday.
Reps. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Mike McIntyre (D-NC) have decided not to seek another term.
McIntyre, a member of the shrinking pool of Blue Dog Democrats, just barely won re-election in 2012. A Democratic aide confirmed to TPM that the North Carolina Democrat will retire.
McCarthy has also recently completed chemotherapy for lung cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
“Today, I am announcing I will not be seeking reelection,” McCarthy said in a video posted by Newsday. McCarthy goes goes on to say that retirement has been “something I have been thinking about really from the half past year.” The New York congresswoman, a strong proponent of gun control suggested that the shooting massacre at Newtown Elementary School kept her from stepping down sooner.
“And after what happened at Newtown, so many voices came out…and their voices were so strong,” McCarthy continued.
McCarthy was passed over in 2009 to fill then-Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand when Clinton was appointed to be Secretary of State.
