Cancer-Stricken Rep. Burton May Step Down

Rep. Sala Burton, being treated for cancer in a Washington hospital, plans to decide in six to eight weeks whether to step down before her term ends, her brother-in-law, former Rep. John Burton, said Tuesday.

A family spokesman for Sala Burton said last weekend, after her meeting with close friends and advisers, that the congresswoman hoped to finish out her term but would not run for reelection in 1988. But John Burton’s statement Tuesday indicated that she has not ruled out resigning.

Sala Burton, whose district encompasses three-fourths of San Francisco, said in a statement issued by John Burton on Tuesday that her choice for a successor would be Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic Party activist and former chair of the California Democratic Party.

Pelosi has expressed interest in the Burton seat, as have several San Francisco supervisors. Political consultants in the city believe that gay supervisor Harry Britt could give Pelosi a tough race for the Burton seat because he has close ties to the city’s increasingly powerful gay and renters rights groups.

Although he held out hope that Sala Burton could resume her duties later this year, John Burton said the congresswoman, 61, will remain in George Washington University Hospital for at least six to eight weeks and will be unable to attend any floor or committee sessions during that time. She underwent surgery for colon cancer in August and has grown worse since.

“I haven’t kept a stopwatch on her but I’ll see if the people at the hospital will,” John Burton snapped when he was asked how much time she is able to spend attending to congressional duties.

Sala Burton won the 5th Congressional District seat in 1983 after the death of her husband, Rep. Phil Burton, who built a powerful political organization during his 20 years in elective office from San Francisco.