Seven Senate retirements are the most in a decade

By

Juan Garcia de Paredes

Since Oct. 17, 12 members of Congress—10 House members and two Senators—have announced they will not seek re-election in 2024. The 10 House members include five Republicans and five Democrats. The two retiring Senators are both Democrats.

Including the retirements above, 33 members of Congress—seven U.S. Senators and 26 House members—have announced they will not seek re-election in 2024.

Senate

The seven Senate retirements so far match those announced for the entire 2014 election cycle. Five of the retiring Senators this cycle are Democrats, and two are Republicans.

Sens. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are the two most recent Senate retirees.

Butler was appointed in October to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who died on Sept. 29. Manchin, a former governor, has been in the Senate since 2010. They are both retiring from public office.

Besides Butler and Manchin, four other Senators not running for re-election are retiring from public office:

  • Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.);
  • Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.);
  • Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.); and,
  • Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah)

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) is running for governor of Indiana.

When compared to the last three election cycles, there were six Senate retirements at this point in 2022, four at this point in 2020, and two at this point in 2018.

House

On the House side, 26 members—16 Democrats and 10 Republicans—have announced they will not seek re-election as of Nov. 14. Twenty-four House members had announced they were not running for re-election at this point in the 2022 election cycle. Twenty-seven members had announced at this point in the 2020 cycle, and 31 had announced at this point in the 2018 cycle.

Eleven of the 26 U.S. House members not running for re-election—nine Democrats and two Republicans—are running for the U.S. Senate. These members include eight running for the open seats in California, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Indiana, and West Virginia:

  • Reps. Barbara Lee (D), Katie Porter (D), and Adam Schiff (D) are running to replace Butler in California;
  • Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) is running to replace Carper in Delaware;
  • Rep. David Trone (D)  is running to replace Cardin in Maryland;
  • Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) is running to replace Stabenow in Michigan;
  • Rep. Jim Banks (R) is running to replace Braun in Indiana; and,
  • Rep. Alex Mooney (R) is running to replace Manchin in West Virginia. 

And three other House members are challenging incumbent Senators:

  • Rep. Andy Kim (D) is running against Sen. Robert Menendez (D) in New Jersey; 
  • Rep. Rubén Gallego (D) is running against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I) in Arizona; and,
  • Rep. Colin Allred (D) is running against Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in Texas.

Additionally, four members are running for other offices:

  • Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) is running for governor of Virginia;
  • Reps. Dan Bishop (R) and Jeff Jackson (D) are both running for attorney general in North Carolina.
  • Rep. Pat Fallon (R) is running for a seat in the Texas Senate.

Eleven House members—five Democrats and six Republicans—have announced their retirement from public office.