RUNNING SCARED: Democrats Flee Congress Before 2022 Fight

By
The Editors
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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):

  1. Brenda Lawrence (D) Michigan
  2. Bobby Rush (D) Illinois
  3. Albio Sires (D) New Jersey
  4. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) California
  5. Stephanie Murphy (D) Florida
  6. Alan Lowenthal (D) California
  7. Peter DeFazio (D) Oregon
  8. G.K. Butterfield (D) North Carolina
  9. Jackie Speier (D) California
  10. Conor Lamb (D) Pennsylvania
  11. Karen Bass (D) California
  12. Michael Doyle (D) Pennsylvania
  13. David Price (D) North Carolina
  14. John Yarmuth (D) Kentucky
  15. Ron Kind (D) Wisconsin
  16. Cheri Bustos (D) Illinois
  17. Filemon Vela (D) Texas
  18. Ann Kirkpatrick (D) Arizona
  19. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D) Texas
  20. Peter Welch (D) Vermont
  21. Val Demings (D) Florida
  22. Tim Ryan (D) Ohio
  23. Tom Suozzi (D) New York
  24. Charlie Crist (D) Florida
  25. Anthony G. Brown (D) Maryland
  26. Jerry McNerney (D) California
  27. Jim Langevin (D) Rhode Island
  28. Ed Perlmutter (D) Colorado
  29. Ted Deutch (D) Florida
  30. Kathleen Rice (D) New York
  31. Jim Cooper (D) Tennessee

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