RUNNING SCARED: Democrats Flee Congress Before 2022 Fight

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 28 Democrats are leaving the House, including some powerful committee chairs. The recent announcement by the powerful chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), made him the 19th Democratic congressman to opt 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 January 19, 2022):