Rep. Bobby Rush To Retire After Decades in Congress To Focus on Ministry
Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush announced on Monday that he would not be seeking another term in office, ending a 30-year tenure in Congress. The minister and former Black Panther told the Chicago Sun-Times that he decided within the last several weeks after a conversation he had with one of his grandchildren.
“I don’t want my grandchildren . . . to know me from a television news clip or something they read in a newspaper,” said Rush. “I want them to know me on an intimate level, know something about me, and I want to know something about them. I don’t want to be a historical figure to my grandchildren.”
Rush, 75, has a long-storied career in activism, community leadership and politics. He is the only politician to defeat Barack Obama in an election, which happened in March 2000 in the Illinois 1st District Democratic primary when the then future president was a state senator.
But he started out as the co-founder of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1969 working in the community with colleagues Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, both of whom were killed in a police raid on Dec. 4 of that year. His own apartment was raided the next day and he has since fought to have the FBI’s COINTELPRO files on the raids revealed to the public. The story of the violence between the Chicago police and the Black Panthers was depicted in the 2021 film “Judas and the Black Messiah.”
He served on the Chicago City Council from 1983 to 1993 when he beat Democratic incumbent Charles Hayes to take office in the House of Representatives, where he has been since, representing much of Chicago’s South Side. He ran for mayor in 1999, but lost to Richard M. Dale
In his congressional tenure, Rush has focused on issues pertinent to the Black community, locally and nationwide. He has served on the House Agriculture, and Energy and Commerce Committees. A solid Democrat, he has been known to vote with his party the vast majority of the time.
But he always stayed close to his activist roots, even later in his career. In 2012, he violated House dress rules when he wore a hoodie on the floor not long after news of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin began to circulate. He was later reprimanded.
Today Rush is pastor of Chicago’s Beloved Community Christian Church of God in Christ and reportedly wishes to focus on his ministry and inspire younger generations. His retirement is not expected to upend the majority currently held by House Democrats because his district has historically voted heavily for the party.
Six Democrats were already in the race before Rush announced he would not run again, the Sun-Times reported, leaving the South Side congressional race open for competition.
