Two 2020 Congressional retirements announced last week; 1,884 major party candidates filed for 2020 Congressional races


In the past week, two members of the 116th Congress announced that they would not seek re-election in 2020. Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.) announced his retirement on November 6 and Peter King (R-N.Y.) announced his retirement on November 11. To date, four Senators (three Republicans and one Democrat) and 28 Representatives (20 Republicans and eight Democrats) are not running for re-election. In 2018, 55 total members of Congress—18 Democrats and 37 Republicans—did not seek re-election.
 
As of November 11, 2019, 286 candidates are filed with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to run for U.S. Senate in 2020. Of those, 251—133 Democrats and 118 Republicans—are from one of the two major political parties. In 2018, 527 candidates filed with the FEC to run for U.S. Senate, including 137 Democrats and 240 Republicans.
 
1,738 candidates are filed with the FEC to run for U.S. House in 2020. Of those, 1,633—816 Democrats and 817 Republicans—are from one of the two major political parties. In 2018, 3,244 candidates filed with the FEC, including 1,566 Democrats and 1,155 Republicans.
 
On November 3, 2020, 35 Senate seats and all 435 House seats are up for election. Of those Senate seats, 33 are regularly-scheduled elections, one is a special election in Arizona, and another is an expected special election in Georgia. Twelve are Democratic-held seats and 23 are Republican-held seats. In the House, where all the seats are up for election, Democrats currently hold a 234-seat majority.
 
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