The longest-serving member of Missouri's Congressional delegation is leaving the Capitol and is headed to K Street.
Less than a month after winning re-election, Representative Jo Ann Emerson, a Republican, announced on Monday that she would resign from Congress in February to become the president and chief executive of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, a trade group.
“I am not leaving Congress because I have lost my heart for service - to the contrary - I see a new way to serve,†Ms. Emerson said in a statement. “I did not go seeking this opportunity, but I am excited about the new challenge it offers to find ways to promote strong rural policy.â€
Ms. Emerson is the second member of the 112th Congress who has decided to resign after winning re-election, following Representative Jesse L. Jackson Jr.
She won her ninth full term last month with almost 72 percent of the vote in Missouri's Eighth Congressional District, a seat she has held since 1996, when she was elected to succeed her husband, Bill Emerson, after his death.
Voters in her district will soon return to the polls to select a new representative.
While it is not uncommon for members of Congress to retire in pursuit of other endeavors or higher office - former Representative Jay Inslee is now the governor of Washington State, for example - most choose not to seek re-election before making a change in their careers.
The electric cooperative, which lobbies f or electric utility companies, spent more than $1.7 million to support candidates, most of them Republicans, in the 2012 Congressional elections, according to federal elections data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. It did not contribute to Ms. Emerson's campaign.
