U.S. Reps. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), Filemon Vela (D-Texas), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), and Jody Hice (R-Ga.), announced that they would not seek re-election in 2022. Their announcements brought the number of U.S. House members to rule out a 2022 run to five; Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) announced she would not seek re-election March 12.
Both Reed and Vela said they would not seek any political office in 2022. Reed’s retirement came following allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced last week. Vela did not offer a reason for his retirement, although Ally Mutnick of Politico reported that his district was a potential Republican target in 2022 following Trump’s election success in the Rio Grande Valley.
Brooks and Hice both indicated they would run for another political office rather than the U.S. House. Brooks said he would run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Richard Shelby (R), who is not seeking re-election. Hice said he would run for Georgia Secretary of State. Incumbent Brad Raffensperger (R) has not yet indicated whether he will run for a second term as secretary of state in 2022.
In the 2020 election cycle, four U.S. senators (one Democrat and three Republicans) and 36 U.S. representatives (nine Democrats, 26 Republicans, and one Libertarian) did not run for re-election. In the last two midterm election years, 2018 and 2014, 55 and 48 members of Congress retired, respectively.
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