By the Daily Post staff
Congresswoman Jackie Speier said today (Jan. 3) she won’t be running for governor this fall.
Speier, D-San Mateo, shot down a rumor that Willie Brown reported in his Chronicle column on Sunday that she was meeting with her advisers over the New Year’s weekend in Palm Springs to decide whether to run.
“I’m not sure who Willie’s source is, but the only thing accurate about the post was that I was in Palm Springs with my family. Willie was smoking something before it became legal on January 1st,” Speier said in an email to the Daily Post. “I still have a lot of work to do in Washington.”
If Speier had run, she would have been forced to relinquish the House seat she has held since 2008. She also would have faced the formidable task of fundraising for a statewide race while the front runners — Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Controller John Chiang and former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — have already raised millions.
Speier has become a nationally-known figure in Washington for speaking out against sexual harassment. In October, Speier publicly disclosed her own experience being sexually harassed as a young Congressional staffer. On Nov. 15, she introduced a bipartisan bill that aims to reform sexual harassment prevention and response measures in Congress.
