WASHINGTON — While hundreds of candidates spend tens of millions of dollars trying to get to Capitol Hill, a handful of lawmakers willingly leave Congress each cycle and run for state or local office.

Inside the Beltway, the move is often portrayed as a demotion, but some of these former members find themselves representing more people in their new roles, along with having more influence and a better quality of life than when they served in Washington.

“Congress is impactful, but the work often feels slow and distant,” said Democrat Kai Kahele, who declined to run for reelection to Hawaii’s 2nd District in 2022 and was elected this summer to the nine-member board of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, overseeing a nearly billion-dollar trust fund that assists native Hawaiians. Trustees elected him board chair earlier this month.

Former Michigan Rep. Candice Miller, who jumped from the House to be elected Macomb County public works commissioner in 2016, won a third term last month.

“I’m appreciative of the fact that I’m doing things that are having an impact on my community and people that I know: friends and neighbors,” the former seven-term Republican congresswoman said.

Such migrations from Congress are rare, considering the hundreds of potential movers, but it’s not unprecedented. Back in 1990, GOP Sen. Gordon Humphrey declined to run for reelection in New Hampshire and ran successfully for the state Senate instead.

Class of 2024

This cycle, Arizona Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko made a direct jump from the state’s 8th District to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (District 4). And several former House members, including Kahele, ran for state or local office as well.

Democratic former Reps. Laura Richardson (who left the House in 2013) and Jerry McNerney (who didn’t seek reelection in 2022) were both elected to the California state Senate this year. They’ll represent more people than when they served in the House (close to 1 million constituents versus around 760,000).

“It’s prestige. You get to enjoy a lot of things,” McNerney recalled about his 16 years in Congress.

But he’s optimistic about his tenure in Sacramento, where he was sworn in earlier this month.

“You have a lot more personal freedom to do legislation. It’s a lot more rewarding because it’s up to you to do it,” McNerney said. “In Washington, a lot of work comes from committees and has to go through leadership.”

McNerney and Richardson aren’t the only Californians who’ve made the move from the House to state office. Republican Paul Cook successfully transitioned to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in 2020 and was reelected this fall. Democratic former Rep. Jackie Speier, who retired from Congress in 2022, won election to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors in March. And Democrat Janice Hahn, who represented South California in the House from 2011 to 2016, was reelected in March to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, where she represents approximately 2 million people. (One of her colleagues on the board, Democrat Hilda Solis, is also a former congresswoman.)

Other former members weren’t as successful this year. Former Florida Rep. Dave Weldon lost a Republican primary for the state House by 30 points to state Sen. Debbie Mayfield, although he’s likely to end up in the Trump administration.

California Republican George Radanovich didn’t seek reelection to the House in 2010 but tried to make a political comeback a decade later. He finished third in the 2022 primary for a state Senate seat and lost a bid for the state Assembly last month.

Making adjustments

For the successful ones, their new roles can be an adjustment from their work on Capitol Hill.

Eight years ago, Miller was on the ascent in Washington. She chaired the House Administration Committee and was one of the highest-ranking women in the chamber. But the former Michigan secretary of state felt she’d been in Washington long enough, her husband had Alzheimer’s and the Wolverine State was calling her home.

“This job in so many ways was a perfect nexus for my interests,” said Miller, a former member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who now gets to focus on water quality, infrastructure and the Great Lakes for the 875,000 residents of the third-largest county in the state. Four days before she took office, a “tsunami of waste” caused a sewer collapse resulting in a 100-foot-wide, 250-foot-long sinkhole and 22 homes needing to be evacuated.

“The issues are completely different,” said Miller. “You’re not dealing with national issues and issues of global significance. You do a job that has a direct impact on people.”

Kahele agreed about the advantages of holding lower office.

“Your leadership can be directly visible in the community,” he said. “It gives people an opportunity to create real, tangible results and change for the people we serve.”

That local connection can even affect campaigning. After the Lahaina wildfires in 2023, Kahele decided to self-fund his campaign for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs board seat.

“I couldn’t go out there and ask people for money. It felt like it was inappropriate,” he said.

Fortunately for Kahele, the cost and scope of the campaign was smaller than a congressional race, and with some residual name ID from previous runs, he needed to spend only $15,000 to win.

Hits and misses

While it’s hard to walk away from some congressional colleagues — Kahele and his family still plan to attend California Rep. Lou Correa’s Disneyland fundraiser each August — no one misses the commute.

McNerney’s nine- to 10-hour commute to and from California is now a two-hour drive from Pleasanton to Sacramento. Kahele’s flights to and from Hawaii were even longer (although during his sole term in Congress, the commercial pilot made frequent use of proxy voting allowed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic).

Even though Miller had the advantage of being near an airport hub, it wasn’t always easy.

“I don’t miss getting on an airplane all the time,” said Miller. “It’s much better to get in my car and in 15 minutes, I’m home.”

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