U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the dean of the Florida legislative delegation and the first Cuban American elected to Congress, is retiring at the end of her term next year, saying it’s time to move on after 38 years in elected office.

“It's been such a delight and a high honor to serve our community for so many years and help constituents every day of the week,” the Miami Republican told the Miami Herald in an exclusive telephone interview Sunday. “We just said, ‘It's time to take a new step.’ ”

Her unexpected retirement marks the end of a storied career in which Ros-Lehtinen repeatedly broke political ground as a Cuban-American woman -- and gives Democrats an opportunity to pick up a South Florida congressional seat in 2018.

Ros-Lehtinen, 64, was elected last November to Florida’s redrawn 27th district, a stretch of Southeast Miami-Dade County that leans so Democratic that Hillary Clinton won it over Donald Trump by 20 percentage points. It was Clinton's biggest margin of any Republican-held seat in the country.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) on Thursday introduced legislation to build a 100 percent renewable energy economy by 2050—a bill that environmental group 350.org previously termed "the most ambitious piece of climate legislation Congress has ever seen," although others caution that it is not enough to meet the real challenges of climate change.

The "100 by 50" Act calls for 50 percent of U.S. electricity to be produced by renewable energy sources like wind or solar by 2030, and 100 percent by 2050. It would require zero carbon emission vehicle standards and prohibit federal approval of oil and gas pipelines, among other measures.

"With an anti-science Congress and President in power right now, some might doubt that this is the right time to push for a bold new strategy to tackle climate change and make a massive fundamental shift in the way we produce energy," Merkley wrote in a Facebook post earlier this month when he announced plans to introduce the bill. "But the fact is, we don't have four years to wait to begin this rapid transition. We must act now."

It was embraced by alternative energy groups, such as NY Renews, which said in a statement Thursday that the senators were "setting the bar for climate leadership in the wake of President [Donald] Trump's assault on our lungs, our communities, and our planet."

350.org co-founder Bill McKibben said, "100 is an important number. Instead of making changes around the margins, this bill would finally commit America to the wholesale energy transformation that technology has made possible and affordable, and that an eroding climate makes utterly essential."

"This bill won't pass Congress immediately—the fossil fuel industry will see to that—but it will change the debate in fundamental ways," McKibben said.

The group's executive director May Boeve added, "While fossil fuel billionaires supporting Trump's administration put profits before people, we now have a legislative roadmap to phase out this dirty industry once and for all. This bill deploys clean energy in communities that need it most and keeps fossil fuels in the ground."

Others were sharply critical of the bill, warning that it would not solve the climate crisis and uses a too-long timeline for a 100 percent withdrawal from fossil fuel use.

Their legislation, dubbed the Raise the Wage Act, would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, increasing it from its current level of $7.25 an hour to $9.20 an hour once it’s passed and then adding about a dollar a year for seven years until it gets to $15. It would rise automatically after that as the country’s median wages rose.

The bill would eventually do away with the separate tipped minimum wage, which currently allows those who earn tips as part of their compensation to be paid as little as $2.13 an hour by their employers. It would increase that rate to $3.15 and then gradually raise it so it would eventually reach $15 an hour.

It also would get rid of lower minimum wages for disabled workers and those under the age of 20 who are newly hired, gradually increasing them to reach $15 an hour. As things currently stand, employers are able to get special certificates for hiring disabled workers that allow them to pay less than the minimum wage required for all other workers.

Cardinale did his job “faithfully” while employed by the company, the case outlines. He was reportedly, “never reprimanded or warned concerning his work performance or other performance.” Gianforte also provided Cardinale with a letter of recommendation calling him an “excellent worker” when he was terminated.

The letters also said that his position was being eliminated. He was given two weeks salary and sent on his way.

Cardinale’s position wasn’t eliminated, in fact, another staffer from another department was brought in to fill the position. No junior sales people on the team were terminated.

Warren said she had tried to coax Perriello to join her at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after he lost his re-election to Congress in 2010. “I actually tried to hire him a long time ago,” she said. “So, when I was setting up the consumer agency ... I took advantage, or tried to take advantage, of some really strong people who had been in elective office and lost.”

Richard Cordray, now director of the CFPB, was another such ex-office holder. “I thought Tom Perriello would be terrific, too,” Warren said. “He’s strong, he’s aggressive on consumer issues, and I really wanted him to come and be one of the major people running the CFPB. Now, he decided he wanted to take a different direction and he said with regret ― at least I hope it was with regret ― that he couldn’t come and join us at the agency and he headed off and did some work in Africa, and I really respect what he has done. He’s an exciting guy.”

“I think that if he’s governor, he would be terrific,” Warren said. “He’s a guy with values. He’s practical, he’s pragmatic, that’s why I wanted him at the agency. He’s the kind of guy who says, ‘I am going to make change and I’m going to make change not for the richest, not for the most powerful, not for what’s politically expedient. I want to make change for hard-working families.’”

“There’s nothing in the Bible that talks about retirement. And yet it’s been an accepted concept in our culture today,” he said. “Nowhere does it say, ‘Well, he was a good and faithful servant, so he went to the beach.’ It doesn’t say that anywhere.”

“The example I think of is Noah,” he continued. “How old was Noah when he built the ark? 600. He wasn’t like, cashing Social Security checks, he wasn’t hanging out, he was working. So, I think we have an obligation to work. The role we have in work may change over time, but the concept of retirement is not biblical.”

Former Chair Candidate, NH State Chairman Ray Buckley broke the news during the Phoenix DNC forum that as an executive member he had never seen the budget — and that most leaders at the DNC, as well as all of the members, had no idea where the record amount of money raised was being spent. When the DNC Chair candidates debated over whether the party should accept lobbyist money (which was banned under Obama’s administration), Buckley stated “the question should not be about whether we need the lobbyist money, but rather where we’ve spent all this money we’ve raised.”

Several DNC members have privately disclosed that they received calls on behalf of Tom Perez from Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, a partner of Precision Strategies and former Executive Director of the DNC when the OFA was housed within it. Dillon is also a Co-Chair of the upcoming Unity Commission, forged out of the 2016 rules committee. The goal of the Unity commission is to set the DNC’s new rules.

Members have repeatedly discussed the frustration with the conflicts of interests within the Democratic party. For Dillon — whose firm received $571,573 from HRC and $593,397 from the DNC, totaling almost $1.2 million — having a seat as a co-chair of the DNC’s rules committee, raises red flags.

One DNC member voting for Mayor Pete Buttigieg stated, “When a firm with a large contract with the DNC co-chairs the new rules committee and makes calls on behalf of a DNC candidate, you can’t help but wonder whether Perez’s interests lie with the DNC members or if he’s cut a deal to keep the contract with Precision.”

Another long time high ranking DNC member stated, “We’ve been quietly complaining about OFA sucking the resources from the DNC. Now to see Dillon — who ran OFA — making calls for Perez, I’m alarmed that these people don’t realize how they killed our party.”

Tom Perriello is announcing additional hires for his gubernatorial campaign that represent talent from across the Democratic Party and with deep Virginia ties uniting behind Tom’s new-generation progressive candidacy.

Julia Barnes, a veteran of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign who led his successful 22-point upset primary victory in New Hampshire, will serve as campaign manager. Pete Brodnitz, a veteran of Virginia Democratic campaigns and former advisor to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, will lead opinion and strategic research as a strategist and pollster. Angelique Cannon-Harris, one of the longest-serving finance aides on Clinton’s presidential campaign and a former top finance aide to Senator Mark Warner, will be a senior advisor, leading the campaign’s finance strategy.

Additionally, Tom has boosted his digital operation by bringing on Revolution Messaging, a firm founded by alumni of President Obama’s 2008 campaign which most recently served as the digital consultant for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Revolution Messaging will lead the campaign’s digital and online fundraising strategies. The campaign previously announced it had hired Ian Sams, another longtime communications operative for Clinton’s presidential campaign, to lead its communications and messaging operation as communications director.

“This team represents the broad, diverse cross-section of Democrats uniting behind Tom’s next-generation progressive candidacy in Virginia,” said Julia Barnes. “We are excited to get to work to tell Tom’s story across Virginia, helping to build a strong coalition of voters committed to showing Virginia is progressive, inclusive, and a firewall against hate in 2017.”

Additional hires include Brennan Gilmore as chief of staff, Don Mark as deputy campaign manager, Jessica Aune as finance director, Leah Greenberg as policy director, Kimble Reynolds as senior advisor for political affairs, Quena Dailey as deputy political director, Remi Yamamoto as press secretary, and Maggie Thornton as scheduler.

Together, these operatives span the divides within the Democratic Party and show the broad appeal of Tom’s campaign of pragmatic populism and inclusive progressivism.