KMIR 6 sat down with the former Congresswoman for a look back at her career and legacy here in the valley. 

 

Sitting in the living room of her Palm Springs home, Mary Bono Mack is all smiles. The 51-year-old may have lost her recent bid for re-election but she's enjoying some downtime before starting a brand new career.

 

"To be able to read the paper and not feel involved or responsible on every single issue that exists is kind of nice to be able to read the paper later in the day rather than first thing in the morning, so in that regard its kind of exhilarating," Bono Mack said. 

 

In her 14 years in Congress, Bono Mack served her nation as Chairwoman on commerce, manufacturing and trade, as well as serving on the subcommittees for the environment and economy, communications and technology. But Bono Mack also focused her efforts on local issues, stepping in when work on the air traffic control tower at Palm Springs Airport stalled and speaking up about preserving the Salton Sea.

 

"I think people are still surprised," Bono Mack said. "They'll come up to me about a bill and I'll drill down into the details about it and they'll say 'wow you're a member of Congress and you actually know the details,' yeah if I wrote a bill I had to know exactly what we were doing."

 

Despite other media reports saying Bono Mack is leaving the desert, she says she plans on keeping a place in the valley even if her career wisks her away somewhere else.

 

"I've been through highs and lows in my life and I've learned enough that you don't dwell. You don't think the high is forever and you don't think the low is forever," Bono Mack said.

 

--Adrianna Weingold

aweingold@kmir6.com