Speier denies rumors of her run for governor
She said speculation came from unknown sources
Peninsula Congresswoman Jackie Speier on Wednesday shot down rumors that she’s considering a run for California governor.
The speculation was first raised by former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who wrote in his San Francisco Chronicle column over New Year’s weekend that the fiveterm representative was considering a gubernatorial bid. “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 advisers and mulling a possible run for governor,” Brown wrote.
Speier, D-San Mateo, denied the report — and poked fun at Brown — in a statement on Wednesday.
“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,” she said. “Willie was smoking something before it became legal on January 1st. I still have a lot of work to do in Washington.”
If Speier had jumped in the race, she would have immediately shaken up the race’s crowded field. Her entry would have been a particular problem for Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the frontrunner, who has dominated the Bay Area vote in early polls.
Speier, a former California legislator, has made headlines over the past year for her work on the House intelligence committee’s investigation of Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. She said in August that she thought President Donald Trump should be removed from office.
She’s also spoken out about sexual harassment in Congress, revealing that she had been harassed as a young staffer on Capitol Hill. Speier also introduced legislation reforming the process for reporting harassment claims.
The sexual harassment scandals that have swept the state Capitol over the past few months might have been a potent campaign issue for Speier. In a November interview, she told the Bay Area News Group that she found the reports of assault, groping and other misconduct by state legislators “disgusting.”
“It does seem like it’s an Animal House up there right now,” Speier said.