By Alison Harding
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann will not seek reelection next year. But, said the former presidential candidate, she has no plans to fade from public view.
“Looking forward, after the completion of my term, my future is full, it is limitless, and my passions for America will remain,” she announced in a video posted to her campaign website early Wednesday.
Bachmann, who served four terms representing Minnesota’s 6th District, promised that there “is no future option or opportunity” that she “won’t be giving serious consideration if it can help save and protect our great nation for future generations.”
Bachmann, who staved off a tougher-than-expected Democratic challenge for her seat last November said her decision was not influenced by any concerns that she would not win reelection.
“I’ve always in the past defeated candidates who were capable, qualified and well-funded. And I have every confidence that if I ran, I would again defeat the individual who I defeated last year, who recently announced that he is once again running,” Bachmann said.
Nor was her decision based on any concerns over and ongoing congressional ethics inquiry or a Federal Election Commission complaint about her former presidential campaign, she said.
“This decision was not impacted in any way by the recent inquiries into the activities of my former presidential campaign or my former presidential staff. It was clearly understood that compliance with all rules and regulations was an absolute necessity for my presidential campaign. And I have no reason to believe that that was not the case,” Bachmann said.
In the eight-minute long video, Bachmann, an early supporter of the Tea Party movement, also touted her work on a variety of conservative issues, promising to “to work vehemently and robustly to fight back against what most in the other party want to do to transform our country into becoming, which would be a nation that our founders would hardly even recognize today.”
“I promise you I have and I will continue to fight to protect innocent human life, traditional marriage, family values, religious liberty, and academic excellence,” Bachmann said.
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