Rep. Melissa Bean, a key moderate on the House Financial Services Committee, refuted rumors she is being considered as a candidate to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at a press conference Wednesday where she discussed her reelection loss to her opponent Joe Walsh.
"I don't think I would be appointed there," Bean said.
Bean, an Illinois Democrat who served three terms representing a wealthy largely Republican district, conceded to Walsh, a Republican favored by the Tea Party movement, late Tuesday after provisional and absentee ballots were finished being counted in a few counties, leaving her 290 votes behind.
Before the election, her race had not been rated as contentious by the major political prognosticators and had taken many observers by surprise.
"Last night we finally heard what voters of the 8th district had to say," Bean said at her press conference. "Though we wished the outcome had been slightly different, whether it had been one vote, 1000 votes, or in this case 290 votes, we have to respect the outcome."
