Fifty-one members of Congress have announced they will not seek re-election in 2024 — more than at this point in previous cycles

By

Juan Garcia de Paredes

Fifty-one members of Congress have announced they will not seek re-election in 2024 — more than at this point in previous cycles.

Since Jan. 9, seven U.S. House members announced they will not seek re-election in 2024. This count includes one Democrat and six Republicans. 

Including the announcements above, 51 members of Congress — seven senators and 44 representatives — have announced they will not seek re-election in 2024, more than at this point in the past three election cycles. 

Forty-eight members of Congress had announced their retirements at this point in the 2022 election cycle, 39 had in the 2020 cycle, and 46 had in the 2018 cycle.

House

Five of the seven representatives who announced they will not seek re-election since Jan. 9 are retiring from public office:

  • Rep. Mark Green (R), from Tennessee;  
  • Rep. Mike Gallagher (R) from Wisconsin; 
  • Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) from Washington;
  • Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D), from Maryland; and 
  • Rep. Jeff Duncan (R) from South Carolina

Additionally, Rep. Matt Rosendale (R), from Montana, announced he is not seeking re-election in order to run for the U.S. Senate. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R) is running for governor of North Dakota. 

Looking at all representatives who are not seeking re-election in 2024:

  • 13—four Republicans and nine Democrats—are running for the U.S. Senate.
  • Two—one Democrat and one Republican—are running for state attorney general.
  • Two—one Democrat and one Republican—are running for governor.
  • One Democrat is running for President of the United States.
  • 26—11 Democrats and 15 Republicans—are retiring from public office.

When comparing the 44 House retirements to the last three cycles, there were 42 House retirements at this point in 2022, 35 at this point in 2020, and 44 at this point in 2018.

Senate

On the Senate side, seven incumbents are not seeking re-election in 2024 — already more than the previous three election cycles. Five of the retirees are Democrats and two are Republicans:

Six senators are retiring from public office:

  • Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.);
  • Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.);
  • Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.);
  • Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.);
  • Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah); and
  • Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)

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

Six U.S. senators did not seek re-election in 2022, four didn’t in 2020, and two didn’t in 2018.