Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Longest-Serving Current Jewish Congressman Rep. Sander Levin Retiring

(JTA) — Congressman Sander Levin, currently the longest-serving Jewish member of Congress, announced he would not seek reelection after more than three decades in office.

Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, made the announcement on Saturday that he would not run for a 19th term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He has served in the House of Representatives since 1983.

“I have been incredibly honored to serve the people of Michigan in Congress and to work on so many issues important to our communities, our state, and our nation.  I have tried to live up to the trust given to me by my constituents by following the values of my parents and family and by acting on what I believe after digging deeply into the facts and consulting broadly,” he said in a statement issued by his office Saturday.

Levin, 86, announced he would join the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy when his term expires at the end of next year. “I now want to share these same values in ways other than being an elected official.  Working to renew our confidence in promoting positive change, especially among our next generation of leaders, will be a particular interest,” he said.

Levin served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee during consideration and passage of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare; led efforts to prevent the privatization of Social Security; and co-authored the Drug Free Communities Support Program.

He is the brother of Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, who retired following the 2014 elections after serving 36 years.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.