LOS ANGELES (AP) — Just three months after declaring “I’m not quitting,” California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa announced Friday he is retiring instead of facing a difficult reelection campaign in a redrawn district.
“It's the right time for a new chapter and new challenges,” Issa said in a statement.
“Serving in Congress has been the honor of my life.”
Issa, a car alarm magnate considered one of the wealthiest members of Congress, had been a chief antagonist for President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while he served as chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, from 2011 to early 2015.
Issa's abrupt reversal injects more uncertainty in the race for Southern California's 48th District, which was drastically reshaped in November after voters approved a new U.S. House map for California to favor Democrats.
With an incumbent out of the running, it may be harder for Republicans to hold the seat and, by extension, the party's fragile majority in the House.
After redistricting, Issa flirted with the idea of leaving California to run for Congress in Texas. But at the time he decided to stay put in his home state.
“I can hold this seat. I’m not quitting on California and neither should anyone else,” Issa, who represents a district anchored in San Diego County, said in a statement at the time.
California's new congressional map, which was spearheaded by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, is intended to tip as many as five Republican-held seats to Democrats this year to offset President Donald Trump's push in Texas to gain five seats for his party there.
A national battle to redraw U.S. House districts for partisan advantage is still raging in some states ahead of the November midterm elections.
Voters in Texas and North Carolina already have cast ballots in primary elections for U.S. House districts redrawn at Trump’s urging. But the final boundaries for voting districts remain uncertain in Missouri, even though candidates already are filing for office. They also are unclear in Virginia, where new congressional districts could hinge both on a voter referendum and court rulings.
In his statement, Issa said he was endorsing San Diego County Supervisor James Desmond to succeed him.
FILE - Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., speaks with reporters following a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Sept. 20, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors Friday in a deal to resolve a felony criminal case that arose immediately after he was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with his executive assistant.
The deal was struck on the same day a judge planned to hear a challenge to Moore’s arrest in December on three charges, including felony home invasion. Those charges were dropped in exchange for Moore pleading no contest to trespassing and malicious use of a telecom device in a relationship.
“Things have changed,” Judge J. Cedric Simpson said.
Moore had confronted the woman with whom he had been having an affair and blamed her for his dismissal, even threatening to kill himself with butter knives in her apartment, authorities said.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
Assistant prosecutor Kati Rezmierski told the judge that the case changed “based on additional evidence and investigation as well as consultation” with the woman through her lawyer.
“What we do believe the evidence supports is criminal misbehavior in the context of an intimate partner relationship,” Rezmierski said.
Outside the courtroom, Moore's attorney said the three initial charges, which included stalking, were not supported by facts or law.
“The dismissal of those charges validates the concerns we raised about the investigation from the very beginning. Mr. Moore is pleased to put this behind him and move forward,” Ellen Michaels said as Moore and wife Kelli stood nearby.
Moore declined to comment on the outcome as they left together.
“Appreciate it,” he said.
Rezmierski also declined to comment. Sentencing is scheduled for April 14. One of the charges carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail, though Michaels predicted there would no additional time in custody beyond Moore's two nights in jail following his arrest.
“This is not the kind of case that somebody is punished by jail,” she said.
Michaels said she advised Moore to plead no contest to help him move on with his family and avoid a trial.
“He has had the opportunity to be with his daughters, to be with his wife, to be home for the holidays, to take his kids to swim lessons,” she said. “As somebody who’s come up the coaching tree and became a head coach at a young age, that is something that he has missed out on.
“I can tell you that losing his job and being at home, he has embraced it as an opportunity to reconnect to his family, to spend time with his kids and to become the man he wants to be,” Michaels said.
Moore, 40, was fired on Dec. 10 after two seasons as the successor to Jim Harbaugh, who won a national championship before leaving to lead the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.
In dismissing Moore, the university cited an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Rezmierski has said the woman ended the affair a few days before Moore’s firing and spoke to the school.
University of Michigan spokesman Paul Corliss said the school had no comment on Moore's no-contest plea.
At a hearing in February, Moore’s attorney said investigators left out key details when they obtained an arrest warrant for him. Michaels noted, for example, that a magistrate wasn’t told that Moore and the woman had a professional relationship.
Michaels said repeated text messages and phone calls had a legitimate purpose as the football team prepared for a bowl game and were not evidence of harassment. Police said Moore's assistant did not answer a dozen calls or respond to some messages from him before his dismissal.
In a statement Friday night, attorneys for Moore's assistant called on the university to conduct a wide-ranging investigation into Moore's actions and any related “institutional failures.”
“Today’s plea by Sheronne Moore confirms the seriousness of that criminal misconduct. But this case is about far more than one terrifying incident,” attorneys Andrew M. Stroth and Steven A. Hart said. “It raises urgent and troubling questions about how a powerful figure within a major university athletic program was able to engage in years of inappropriate conduct toward a subordinate without meaningful intervention or oversight.”
Moore signed a five-year contract with a base annual salary of $5.5 million last year. According to the terms of his deal, the university did not have to buy out the remaining years of his contract because he was fired for cause.
Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.
Sherrone Moore appears with his attorney, Ellen Michaels arrive for a hearing, Friday, March 6 2026, at Washtenaw County 14A-1 District in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Jordyn Pair/Ann Arbor News via AP)
Washtenaw County assistant prosecutor Kati Rezmierski takes her seat as Sherrone Moore appears for a hearing, Friday, March 6 2026, at Washtenaw County 14A-1 District in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Jordyn Pair/Ann Arbor News via AP)
Sherrone Moore appears with his attorney, Ellen Michaels, right for a hearing, Friday, March 6 2026, at Washtenaw County 14A-1 District in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Jordyn Pair/Ann Arbor News via AP)
Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore arrives for a court hearing with his wife, Kelli Moore, left, and attorney Ellen Michaels, Friday, March 6 2026, at Washtenaw County 14A-1 District in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Jordyn Pair/Ann Arbor News via AP)
