Harman Won’t Seek Her Former Seat in Congress

Former gubernatorial candidate and Rep. Jane Harman has decided not to seek her old congressional seat in the Los Angeles coastal suburbs next year.

The Democrat will focus her energies on her family, teaching at UCLA and helping Gov. Gray Davis with fund-raising and other political activities, a longtime associate said in Sacramento.

“I think she wanted to spend some time with her family in the next couple of years and not run against an incumbent,” said Mike Monasmith, who was Harman’s chief of staff.

Harman also plans to work on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, a bipartisan, independent panel reviewing operations at the nation’s nuclear laboratories.

In Congress, Harman served on the House National Security and Intelligence committees. Before that, as a lawyer, she worked for law firms that represented the embassy of the People’s Republic of China.

Harman, a 53-year-old mother of four, was elected to Congress in 1992. She ran for governor instead of reelection last year, and her seat was won by Republican Steve Kuykendall.