WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Kathy Manning is in her final few weeks serving in an institution she never thought she would work at.
“This was not on my to-do list. I never thought I’d be a member of Congress,” Manning said in an interview in early December.
But last year the North Carolina Democrat announced she wouldn’t seek a third term.
Under a new congressional map drawn by state Republicans, her Democratic district in Greensboro was carved up into three pieces, each one added to a Republican-dominated district nearby, making it nearly impossible for Manning to win re-election.
“I’ve basically been gerrymandered out,” Manning said.
The new congressional map led two other Democrats, Reps. Wiley Nickel and Jeff Jackson, not to seek re-election. In 2025, the North Carolina congressional delegation will go from seven Republicans and seven Democrats to 10 Republicans and four Democrats.
Manning said she continues to be in denial that she is leaving Congress.
In Washington, two of the things Manning will be most remembered for are her work on the bipartisan Antisemitism Task Force in the House, which she co-chaired, and introducing bipartisan legislation to codify a right to contraception. The bill was introduced after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The bill passed the House and failed in the Senate.
“I got 180 co-sponsors in a matter of days. We brought that bill to the floor in two weeks. It was my freshman term. I didn’t realize how unusual it was for something to move that quickly,” Manning said. “This term I was unable to get a Republican, even those who voted for the bill last time, to sponsor the bill.”
Manning said she’s made friends on both sides of the aisle in Congress and said there are a lot of good members.
But she said the attention-seekers hurt the reputation of the institution.
“When they do those ridiculous antics that they do, they make people think that that’s what everybody in Congress is like, and they are the very small minority. The vast majority of members of Congress are working hard to get the job done,” Manning said.
But she said getting things done is often difficult in Congress.
“One of my colleagues told me recently that Congress was designed to work slowly because in this wonderful, vast country we have, different districts have very different interests… when legislation gets done, it needs to be legislation that can appeal to people all across this country,” Manning said. “That was the best explanation I heard for why it takes things so long to get things done in Congress. I still find it frustrating.”
Now she’ll be watching from afar as Washington shifts to the right following November’s election.
“I was shocked. I really was. It just shows you how blue my district was… in the bubble of my district I felt very strongly that people were going to support Kamala Harris,” Manning said. “Having lived through the four years of Donald Trump where every morning you wake up and say, ‘Dear God, what did he tweet when I was sleeping?’ I thought people would remember how difficult a time those four years were.”
Manning doesn’t know what’s next for her after Congress but said she’s had some interesting conversations.
If it was up to her, she’d be sticking around.
“I wish I’d had more time doing the work,” Manning said.