Upton Avoids Voters and Takes His Time As He Looks for the Off-Ramp to Retirement
As one colleague after another walks away from Congress, it is clear Fred Upton is ready to call it quits too.
When asked if he was up for another reelection campaign, the 32-year veteran of the House GOP hemmed and hawed, telling the Wall Street Journal that he’s “got a lot of time,” to make a decision, going on to say, “we’re checking all the boxes, and we’ll make a decision in a couple months.”
Upton followed up his wishy-washy retirement response with another reminder to voters of MI-06 that he’s on his way out the door, saying in a local interview that he doesn’t host town hall meetings to hear from his constituents because they’ve become “gotcha” events.
If Congressman Upton really wanted to be in Congress, he probably would want to talk to people in his district and certainly wouldn’t be putting off the decision to run for reelection until the last moment.
“Upton’s hedging on whether to make his political exit is just another example of how miserable it is to be a Republican in Washington right now,” said DCCC Spokesperson, Andy Orellana. “Maybe after his 32-year political career gutting Michiganders’ health care coverage and economic security, Fred Upton has finally realized that it’s time to head for the door. ”
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