‘Weary’ from impeachment debate, WA Rep. Denny Heck retires from Congress

After serving as Washington’s state’s District 10 Congressman since 2013, Rep. Denny Heck announced his retirement late Wednesday morning.

WA Rep. Heck sees GOP coming around on impeachment

Rep. Heck cited a variety of reasons for his retirement, highlighted by the debate surrounding ongoing impeachment proceedings for President Trump.

“The countless hours I have spent in the investigation of Russian election interference and the impeachment inquiry have rendered my soul weary,” Heck said in a post on Medium outlining his reasons for leaving office.

That being so, he also noted that while impeachment proceedings were a factor in his decision to retire, they were more a symptom of what he views as a larger, endemic problem in Washington, D.C.

“To some degree (President Trump) is a symptom and not the cause or at least the only cause,” he outlined. “The truth is that civic discourse began degrading before him. At times, it is as though there are no rules or boundaries.”

“There are simply too many hyperbolic adjectives and too few nouns. Civility is out. Compromise is out. All or nothing is in,” he added.

Rep. Heck on how Congress may pursue evidence against Trump

Beyond politics, Heck also noted the difficulty in being away from his family, including his two children, and his wife of 44 years. He plans to serve out the remainder of his term expiring in 2020 before stepping away for good.

Rep. Heck first ran for Congress in 2010 for Washington’s 3rd District. After advancing out of the primary, he ultimately lost to Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, before going on to win the newly-created District 10 seat in 2012.

Before that, he served as the Majority Leader in the Washington State House of Representatives. He also founded and served as CEO of TVW, a network in Washington state akin to CSPAN, providing live streams of hearings, meetings, and votes in the state Legislature.

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