The mass exodus of Republicans from the US Senate continues Richard Shelby of Alabama, which on Monday announced its end-of-term resignation, the fourth in the GOP caucus to do so to date.
“Today I announce that I will not seek a seventh term in the United States Senate in 2022. There is a season for everything,” said Shelby in a statement, as reported by the Washington Post. “I am grateful to the people of Alabama who have trusted me for more than forty years. I have been fortunate to serve in the U.S. Senate longer than any other Alabamian. “
Republican Senator Shelby, now a die-hard Conservative, was Shelby’s first Democratic Congressman in 1978. In 1986 he ran and won a seat in the Senate. In 1994 he became a Republican.
Shelby has a virulent anti-LGBTQ record. He voted for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and the unconstitutional federal law for the defense of marriage (DOMA). He also voted against adding sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes and not against extending hate crimes to include sexual orientation.
Most recently, Shelby voted against the confirmation of Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation.
Image: DoD photo by U.S. Army Sgt. James K. McCann via Flickr and a CC license
The Post-Mass GOP Exodus: U.S. Senator from Alabama Turns Fourth to Announce Retirement, first appeared in the New Civil Rights Movement.
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