US Rep. Lynn. Woolsey to Retire
U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., (left), listens as her co-sponsors of H.Con.Res.35 hold a news conference to call for hearings in the House International Relations Committee to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq while on Capitol Hill, February 9, 2005. The resolution would express 'the sense of Congress that the president should develop and implement a plan to begin the immediate withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq.' From L-R are: Woolsey, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. REUTERS

U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., announced Monday that she will not run for an 11th term in 2012, saying she will reach age 75 before the next election and the time has come to move on, Roll Call reported.

The California Democrat's decision, announced from her Petaluma home, came as no surprise.

The district, which includes Marin and Sonoma counties - its southern border being the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge - is the first redistricting plan being considered in California; the new district would extend north the Oregon border, encompassing all of Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson's coastal area.

Woolsey was first elected in 1992 to succeed a Democrat, Barbara Boxer, who was elected to the Senate. Woolsey previously served as the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

In a statement Monday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., thanked Woolsey for her service.

When Congresswoman Woolsey retires, the Bay Area will lose a powerful advocate and the nation will lose a tireless progressive leader, Pelosi said. But her powerful legacy of progressive accomplishments will long stand as testimony to her efforts.

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