Two members of Congress have announced their retirements since April 17

By

Briana Ryan

Fifty-two members of Congress—eight senators and 44 representatives—have announced they will not seek re-election this year.

Since our April 16 update on congressional incumbents not seeking re-election, Bill Posey (R-Fla.) and Jacob LaTurner (R-Kan.) announced their retirements from the House. Additionally, Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.) died while in office. Ballotpedia does not include incumbents leaving office early in our analysis of incumbents not running for re-election.

If the current number of retirements holds, it would be an increase from the previous two election cycles. In 2018, 55 incumbents retired from Congress. In the two election years directly following 2018, the total number of retirements decreased to 40 in 2020 and 38 in 2022. An average of 38.68 members retired from Congress each election year between 1930 and 2022.

House

In the House, 44 incumbents are not seeking re-election this year. Between 1930 and 2022, there was an average of 33.28 House retirements each election year.

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

  • 12—three 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.
  • 27—12 Democrats and 15 Republicans—are retiring from public office.

When comparing the 44 House retirements to the last three cycles, there were 48 House retirements at this point in 2022, 35 at this point in 2020, and 51 at this point in 2018.

Senate

On the Senate side, eight incumbents are not seeking re-election this year. Between 1930 and 2022, there was an average of 5.4 Senate retirements each election year.

The eight senators who are not seeking re-election are:

The number of senators not running for re-election this year is higher than the three previous election years. Six senators did not seek re-election in 2022, four didn’t in 2020, and three didn’t in 2018.