Longtime Trump Critic Frederica Wilson Retiring

Longtime Trump Critic Frederica Wilson Retiring

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) announced Friday she will not seek reelection, closing out a congressional career that started in 2011 and never ran short on controversy. Most readers know her for the bedazzled cowboy hats. The Trump White House knew her differently.

“This has been a journey. But it’s time. It’s time.”

The announcement blindsided nobody who had been paying attention, but Wilson still managed to make it awkward. Just days earlier, she called speculation about her retirement a “crazy rumor,” told Axios she was “almost distraught” by the reports, and insisted she was still running.

“It’s not true. I am still planning on running.”

Days later, she confirmed the opposite, telling the Miami Herald she had deliberately hidden her plans to keep Republicans from targeting her district during redistricting.

The missed votes made the reversal harder to sell. Wilson skipped more than 40 votes while recovering from left eye surgery, staying away from Capitol Hill for weeks and letting questions about her health fester into something louder. Republican critics jumped on it in May. Democratic primary challenger Rudy Moise argued:

“Every vote is important and you cannot fight for your constituents if you don’t vote.”

Wilson came back to cast a vote on May 21, too late to quiet the chatter. Her age and her absence had already turned the retirement rumor into an open secret 

The moment that defined her nationally arrived in October 2017. Army Sgt. La David Johnson died in an ambush in Niger, and Wilson climbed into the car with his widow, Myeshia Johnson, while Trump called to offer condolences. She then told the press Trump said Johnson “knew what he signed up for.” Trump denied it. John Kelly walked to the White House briefing room podium and dressed Wilson down on live television, accusing her of exploiting a grieving family for political points. Wilson demanded an apology. The feud ran for weeks, spawned countless headlines, and cemented her reputation as one of Trump’s most combative Democratic opponents. She held that title throughout both of his terms.

Wilson is among a growing number of House Democrats over 80 choosing not to run in November’s midterms, part of a slow-motion generational turnover in the caucus that the party has done little to manage gracefully. She held her seat for 15 years, denied she was leaving until she wasn’t, and missed 40-plus votes in her final stretch. Her district will stay blue. Whether the next occupant matches her grip on it is a different question entirely.

She has not named a preferred successor. Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones and Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert are circling the seat. Wilson says she plans to register voters, finish her memoir, and stay politically active. She also floated running for governor, as a joke, presumably.

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