Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said the upcoming 2024 election would be his last, marking an approaching end date for his more than two-decade run in Congress.
“I think 22 years is pretty good. It’s a retirement age,” Grijalva told KOLD-TV 12 in an interview that aired Monday.
Grijalva, 76, announced in April that he had been diagnosed with cancer, though he did not disclose the type. Doctors initially diagnosed him with pneumonia after he sought treatment for a persistent cough, but further testing revealed it was cancer.
The Arizona Democrat said in July that he had finished cancer treatment and was awaiting clearance from his doctors to travel back to Washington, D.C., to participate in Congress.
He said in the recent interview that he is “not far” from being back to the percentage that would make him effective and is undergoing physical therapy on one leg.
Grijalva said the treatment that kept him home in Tucson, Ariz., and missing votes in the House came at the right time because Republicans in control have the “worst performing Congress in decades, if not 100 years.”
“And so, I didn’t miss anything, and the American people didn’t miss anything,” he said.
Earlier this summer, Grijalva became the second sitting Democratic lawmaker to call on President Biden to step aside and allow a new generation to run. He said in July he would support Biden if he remained in the race but was encouraging the president to pass the torch.
During the recent interview, Grijalva admitted he was criticized by fellow Democrats and his family for calling on Biden to drop out of the race.
“At first, the reaction was bad. Bad in the sense that, ‘What are you doing? You’re breaking up the party,’” he said. “And then, when it started to turn around … then [it] became so clairvoyant that I knew what was going to happen.”
As for his own seat, Grijalva has plans to see through his upcoming election and the next term but wants to pass the torch, too.
“Not that I’m abandoning what I do now, but that it’s time for someone else, and it’s time for somebody younger,” he said.
Grijalva was elected to the House in 2003 and has been considered one of the most liberal members of the lower chamber.
He formerly served as co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and is the ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
In a statement to The Hill, Grijalva said it has been his honor and privilege to represent southern Arizona.
“I went into Congress to give a voice to our community that had been too often ignored or dismissed. I’ve stayed true to that mission and I continue to take my commitment to Arizonans, working families and our environment seriously. And part of that commitment is knowing when to step aside,” Grijalva’s statement said. “My work in Congress is not done yet, and I have every intention of using my final term to build on the hard fought wins we’ve had for the environment and Southern Arizona. But the time is right for me to get ready to pass the torch to the next generation.”
Grijalva said he is grateful for the opportunity to serve and those in his district that have supported him to make his “tenure a success.”
“I trust the next person eventually selected to represent this district will also be one who will unabashedly put the people above the politics, who leads by morals over expediency, and who will give a voice to the voiceless,” Grijalva’s statement said.
— Updated at 3:13 p.m. on Oct. 2.