MIAMI — Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., announced on Friday that she will not seek re-election in 2026. She made the retirement announcement at a ceremony in the Miami area where a street was named in her honor.

"This has been a journey, but it’s time. It’s time. And I know all of you are wondering, ‘What is the congresswoman going to do?’ Well, the congresswoman is going to not seek another term," Wilson said. She added, "Even leather wears out," and said she would not fully retire but instead travel the country to promote her 5000 Role Models program, which supports boys and young men of color.

Wilson first revealed her plans in an interview with the Miami Herald published Friday. She said she waited to announce her retirement until after Florida’s new congressional maps were finalized to protect her district from being redrawn as a weaker Democratic seat. "I figured if I announced that I was retiring, what would the Legislature and the governor do? Would District 24 be an easy target because Frederica is no longer there? I’m a strong candidate. With me not here, would that weaken the survival of District 24?"

Her district, Florida’s 24th, recently lost its coastal areas in the GOP-led redistricting process but remains solidly Democratic. The filing deadline for candidates to run in the August 18 primary to replace Wilson is June 12.

Wilson, 83, had previously been among a group of senior lawmakers in their 80s and 90s who said they intended to run again in 2026. She missed a month of House votes in spring 2025 while recovering from eye surgery.

Before her election to the U.S. House in 2010, Wilson served on the Miami-Dade County School Board and in the Florida House and Senate. She began her career as a public school teacher and later became principal of a school in Miami Gardens, which was later renamed Dr. Frederica S. Wilson/Skyway Elementary School in her honor.

The street named after Wilson runs next to that school. Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III, speaking at the ceremony, said, "A street isn’t enough. A street just isn’t enough." He added, "There were young boys who actually crossed this street, went into that building, when they went in, they didn’t have promise. When they came out, because something she imagined into existence, they actually had a future."