Clockwise from Top Left: Congressman G. K. Butterfield, NC-01, in Greenville, NC, on Aug. 30, 2021. USDA Photo Media by Lance Cheung. Congressman Ron Kind addresses the crowd. Photo by Ketti Spomer/USFWS. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel talks with Congressman David Price at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C. July 15, 2013. DoD Photo By Glenn Fawcett (Released) Rep. Patrick Meehan (PA), Chairman and Rep. Jackie Speier (CA), Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence USCBP Photo June 1, 2011.
The Democratic Party is watching nervously as a wave of representatives announce that they will not run for Congress again. So far 31 Democrats are leaving the House, including some powerful committee chairs. The powerful chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) has opted to leave the chamber rather than run for reelection in 2022. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), chair of the House Science Committee, has also decided to depart. House Budget Committee Chair John Yarmuth has also signaled he will retire.
Some of the departing congressmen are running for higher office, but many are abandoning politics altogether in the face of what looks like it could be a “wave election” for Republicans.
The names of Democrats departing Congress so far (updated July 14, 2022):
- Brenda Lawrence (D) Michigan
- Bobby Rush (D) Illinois
- Albio Sires (D) New Jersey
- Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) California
- Stephanie Murphy (D) Florida
- Alan Lowenthal (D) California
- Peter DeFazio (D) Oregon
- G.K. Butterfield (D) North Carolina
- Jackie Speier (D) California
- Conor Lamb (D) Pennsylvania
- Karen Bass (D) California
- Michael Doyle (D) Pennsylvania
- David Price (D) North Carolina
- John Yarmuth (D) Kentucky
- Ron Kind (D) Wisconsin
- Cheri Bustos (D) Illinois
- Filemon Vela (D) Texas
- Ann Kirkpatrick (D) Arizona
- Eddie Bernice Johnson (D) Texas
- Peter Welch (D) Vermont
- Val Demings (D) Florida
- Tim Ryan (D) Ohio
- Tom Suozzi (D) New York
- Charlie Crist (D) Florida
- Anthony G. Brown (D) Maryland
- Jerry McNerney (D) California
- Jim Langevin (D) Rhode Island
- Ed Perlmutter (D) Colorado
- Ted Deutch (D) Florida
- Kathleen Rice (D) New York
- Jim Cooper (D) Tennessee
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