More than 50 members are leaving Congress this year, but only one held a key position with the House Democratic leadership: Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, a former C.I.A. officer who is departing to run for governor of Virginia at a time when anger over dysfunction in the House is at a high.

Hiroko Tabuchi traveled to Texas and Michigan and interviewed ranchers, scientists, investigators and wastewater-treatment experts for this article.

casinoslots

A math prodigy born to Holocaust survivors in Latvia, he had received his doctorate from, and spent his career at, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he became known for his work in a field called geometric group theory.

Ms. Spanberger, who hails from a politically competitive slice of her state, is the leadership’s emissary for battleground-district House Democrats across the country. In that role, she has taken on the sometimes lonely task of trying to beat back efforts to pull her party further to the left.

She refused to vote for former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, criticized aspects of President Biden’s policy agenda and faced pushback from leaders in her own party for her attempt to ban members of Congress from trading stocks.

During her three terms in Congress, Ms. Spanberger, 45, often focused on local issues, such as bringing broadband internet to rural communities and improving Virginia’s infrastructure, earning a ranking as one of the most bipartisan members of the House.

In an interview with The New York Times, she reflected on her time in the House, and what it means that the country re-elected former President Donald J. Trump.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: In some ways it feels like 2024 is an end of an era in the House. You were part of a group of women with national security experience who all came in as part of the anti-Trump blue wave of 2018. Elaine Luria is no longer in the House. Elissa Slotkin is moving to the Senate. You and Mikie Sherrill, of New Jersey, are running for governor. What impact do you think you had?

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.diamond game

• diamond game
• Democrats
• Battleground
• leader
• Exiting