Utah GOP Rep Owens Announces Retirement03/05 06:13

   

   SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens, the professional football 
player turned Utah congressman, said Wednesday he will not seek reelection 
after a redistricting shakeup left the state's four Republican representatives 
to vie for three U.S. House seats this fall.

   Democrats have a high likelihood of flipping one of Utah's four seats under 
a new congressional map adopted by a state judge last year. Owens and other 
Republican officials sued to block that map, but their bids were rejected by 
state and federal judges who said it was too late to change the boundaries for 
2026.

   Owens, 74, said he will finish out his current term and then step away from 
elected office. His pending retirement clears the way for Reps. Blake Moore, 
Celeste Maloy and Mike Kennedy to run in the three Republican-leaning districts 
without having to battle another incumbent.

   "I will finish this term fully committed and fully accountable," Owens said. 
"My final political sprint will be here in Utah and across the country, helping 
my colleagues expand our Republican majority."

   Meanwhile, in the new Salt Lake County district, a crowded field of 
Democrats includes former Rep. Ben McAdams, a moderate who Owens narrowly 
defeated when he was first elected to Congress in 2020. State Democrats could 
run their most progressive candidate to date, and many local officials to 
McAdams' political left have thrown their hats in the ring.

   Owens, a former NFL safety, played for the New York Jets and won a Superbowl 
with the Raiders in 1980 before jumping into politics. Now in his third term in 
Congress, he is a strong supporter of Donald Trump and has called the 
Republican president "an advocate for Black Americans."

   With Owens' announcement, all four Black Republicans in the U.S. House have 
now said they are leaving Congress.

   The other three -- Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida, John James of Michigan 
and Wesley Hunt of Texas -- are seeking other offices. Owens said he will work 
to advance opportunity, advocate for children and strengthen families from 
outside of elected office.

   They are among 53 current representatives -- 21 Democrats and 32 Republicans 
-- who have announced they will retire from the House after this year.

   With primaries just getting underway in the first few states, it remains to 
be seen whether there will be any Black members of the House Republican 
conference next year.

   The last time Congress did not include a single Black Republican in the 
House was between 2013 and 2015.

   Donalds was the first to share his plans for this year, announcing in 
February of 2025 that he would run to succeed term-limited Florida Gov. Ron 
DeSantis. James followed in April when he said he would run in Michigan's open 
governor's race, and Hunt made official his challenge to Texas Republican Sen. 
John Cornyn in October.

   Hunt lost the primary Tuesday, and Cornyn will face Texas Attorney General 
Ken Paxton in a May runoff.