Longtime Sen. Barbara Mikulski to retire

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who has served longer in Congress than any other woman in history, said Monday she won't run for re-election in 2016.

The Maryland Democrat, first elected to the Senate in 1986, announced her plans at a news conference in Baltimore.

"This has been a hard decision to make," Mikulski said. "There's no health problem. I'm not frustrated with the Senate."

She said she would prefer to spend the two years remaining in her term campaigning for Maryland residents rather than campaigning for herself.

"I want to give 120 percent of my time focused on my constituents," she said.

Mikulski, 78, became the first woman to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2012, a position she lost when Republicans took control of the chamber following the 2014 elections. She now serves as the ranking Democratic member on the powerful committee that controls federal spending.

Mikulski listed a number of issues she wants to work on during the rest of her term, including making sure women receive equal pay for equal work, making college more affordable and increasing the childcare tax deduction.

"Though I'm turning a new page, make no mistake, we're not writing the last chapter," she said.

President Obama, who served with Mikulski when he represented Illinois in the Senate, called her a "legendary senator" and "an institution" whose legacy will span generations.

"Barbara has wielded her gavel and used her booming voice to advocate on behalf of paycheck fairness, childcare, health care, education, women's rights and countless issues that have contributed to the strength of America's families," Obama said in a statement.

Mikulski has said "old school rules" have helped her achieve compromises with Republicans on bipartisan spending bills. She said during a March 2014 interview that when she was chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee she negotiated across the aisle "based on civility, mutual respect."

On the committee, she's pushed for science and discovery funding for federal labs headquartered in Maryland.

"Her dedication to working with members on both sides of the aisle has earned her a great amount of respect in both the Appropriations Committee and the Senate," said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., a member of the committee.

Mikulski has long fought for initiatives to help women and children. She sponsored the first bill Obama signed into law, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which overturned the 180-day statute of limitations for women to allege gender-based salary discrimination. She introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act to help close the wage gap for women.

She fought for free preventive care for women as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, although the Supreme Court ruled last year that certain companies with religious objections are exempt from regulations requiring contraceptive coverage under the health care law. Last year, Congress passed legislation Mikulski sponsored to reauthorize a grant program to help low-income families afford child care.

Vice President Biden, who served with Mikulski when he represented Delaware in the Senate, said the Maryland Democrat helped him pass the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, and she successfully fought for every reauthorization since.

"It was her leadership that brought the nation's attention to the need for shelters for victims of domestic violence, helping countless women escape the worst prison on earth – the four walls of their own home," Biden said in a statement.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada in a statement called Mikulski "a trailblazer" who "helped a generation of women leaders rise in the Senate."

Mikulski, considered the dean of the women in the Senate, is known for taking newly elected female senators under her wing.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who serves with Mikulski on the Appropriations Committee, called her "a true mentor to me and the many other women who are walking behind her on the path she fought so hard to clear for us."

She also noted that Mikulski and former Democratic Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois were the first women to wear pants on the Senate floor, defying a rule that women must wear skirts.

Prior to her election to the U.S. House in 1976, where she served five term, Mikulski served as a Baltimore social worker and later a member of the city council.

Though the state elected a Republican, Larry Hogan, as governor last year, Maryland is a traditionally blue state, and Mikulski has coasted to victory in each of her re-election bids.

Shortly after Mikulski's announcement, Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., announced via Twitter that he is considering a Senate run.

"I'm in public service to get things done and will explore a race for Senate," he tweeted. "MD families want jobs, economic opportunity & real solutions."

Speculation around which Democrats will seek to succeed her is sure to include former governor Martin O'Malley, who is also considering a 2016 presidential campaign, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee. Rep. Donna Edwards, elected to the House in 2008, is also likely to be mentioned.

Mikulski said she would support the Democratic nominee.

On the GOP side, former governor Bob Ehrlich, who has also reportedly mulled a 2016 bid, could be on the short list of prospects for the party, as a Republican who's previously won a high-profile statewide office. Michael Steele, a former Republican National Committee chairman who served as lieutenant governor under Ehrlich, could also be a candidate.

In a statement, National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Andrea Bozek said the open-seat race would be "a top pickup opportunity for Republicans," citing Hogan's upset victory in 2014.

Charles Mathias, a liberal Republican, was the last member of the GOP to win a Senate race in the state when he was re-elected to his last term in 1980. Mikulski was elected in 1986 to succeed him.

Old, ugly beat up nasty hag = typical libtard woman