Rep. Jackie Speier on Wednesday denied a rumor started by former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown – and repeated in multiple media outlets – that she may be eyeing a run for governor.
“Willie was smoking something before it became legal on Jan. 1,” the congresswoman representing San Mateo County said Wednesday. “I still have a lot of work to do in Washington.”
Brown launched the viral rumor in his San Francisco Chronicle column. He wrote, “My phone has been lighting up with messages that Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier is spending the New Year’s weekend in Palm Springs with her advisors and mulling a possible run for governor.”
Political pundits have proposed reasons why the popular Speier may consider running. The lawmaker has recently added to her statewide and national notoriety as a leader of the MeToo anti-sexual harassment campaign in Congress.
Her entry into the governor’s race would be problematic for Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the projected front-runner. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also plans to run.
Rep. Jackie Speier represents California’s 14th Congressional District, which stretches from the southern portion of San Francisco through San Mateo County to Redwood City. She has been a prominent public servant in the region since serving as a staff aide to Rep. Leo Ryan in the 1970s, when she famously survived a shooting that claimed her boss’s life during a trip to the cult community of Jonestown in Guyana, South America.
She continues to make headlines today. Last fall, she called for using the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to remove President Trump from office over what she described as his erratic behavior and mental instability. She also recently proposed legislation aiming to combat sexual abuse and harassment of women in STEM fields. And when the MeToo movement swept the nation in response to sexual harassment in Hollywood and elsewhere, she posted a video sharing when she was sexually harassed on Capitol Hill.
Speier’s first elected post was in 1980 as the youngest person to ever be voted onto the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. Midway through her second term, she won a seat on the California State Assembly. She later served on the state senate before being elected to the U.S. House of Representative’s 12th District, and has served the 14th district since 2013.
She serves on the House Armed Services Committee as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Military Personnel, on the House Permanent Selection Committee on Intelligence, and is co-chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus.
