Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) announced on March 27, 2026, that he will not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026.
In a statement announcing his retirement, Graves said, “After considerable reflection, 2026 will be my final year in Congress. This wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s the right one. I believe in making room for the next generation. It’s time to pass the torch and allow a new guard of conservative leaders to step forward and chart a path forward for Missourians.”
In 2000, Graves ran for his first term in the U.S. House in Missouri’s 6th Congressional District, after then-Rep. Patsy Danner (D-Mo.) announced she would not seek re-election. Graves defeated Steve Danner (D) in the general election 51% to 47%. Missouri’s 6th Congressional District was one of seven Democratic-held districts that Republican candidates won in the general elections that year.
Graves won by a median of 34.5 percentage points in his 12 subsequent re-election bids in which he ran with major party opposition. Graves’ largest margin of victory (MOV) was in 2024, when he won by 44 percentage points. His narrowest MOV was in 2008, when he won by 23 percentage points.
As of March 17, 2026, independent race forecasters The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have rated the 2026 general election for the district as Solid Republican. Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Republican.
As of March 27, 2026, Graves is one of 68 members of the U.S. Congress — 11 U.S. Senate members and 57 U.S. House members — who have announced they will not seek re-election to their current seats in 2026.
Of the 57 U.S. House incumbents who are not seeking re-election:
- Twenty-nine — 13 Democrats and 16 Republicans — are retiring from public office.
- Sixteen — seven Democrats and nine Republicans — are running for the U.S. Senate.
- Eleven — one Democrat and 10 Republicans — are running for governor.
- One Republican is running for state attorney general.
Compared to the last four election cycles, there were 42 retirement announcements at this point in 2024, 45 in 2022, 34 in 2020, and46 in 2018.
Between January 2011 and March 2026, Ballotpedia tracked 354 announcements by U.S. House members that they would not seek re-election. January had the highest number of members announcing they would not run for re-election at 61. The fewest announcements took place in June at 15.
