Texas journalist resigns to run for Pete Sessions’s House seat

A longtime Texas broadcast journalist has resigned from his post to run for the House seat of a powerful GOP committee chairman, the reporter’s Dallas news outlet announced on Wednesday.

Brett Shipp, the recipient of three Peabody Awards, will leave ABC affiliate WFAA after 22 years to run as a Democrat for Texas’s 32nd Congressional District, home of Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions.

Shipp, 59, is expected to make his official campaign announcement at a press conference on Thursday.

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“We are grateful for the many contributions Brett has made to WFAA, and the field of journalism,” executive news director Carolyn Mungo said. 

As Rules chair, Sessions is deeply involved with current GOP negotiations over government funding and tax-reform legislation. 

In 2016, Sessions faced no Democratic opponent. He crushed candidates from the Libertarian and Green parties, taking more than 70 percent of the vote.