The initial session of the 119th Congress of the United States ended with a record number of lawmakers exiting. Nearly one-fifth of the representatives who served in this session will not return to their seats next year for various reasons, including retirement, resignation, and running for other offices.
Number of Changed Officials
According to surveys, by the end of the initial session in 2026, 99 seats in Congress will change, including 83 seats in the House of Representatives and 16 seats in the Senate. These numbers are likely to increase due to fierce competition in the November general elections. Two senators not running for re-election this year — Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota and Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee — are likely to be elected as governors of their states and will resign from Congress in that case.
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Reasons for Lawmaker Exits
In total, 13 senators and 60 representatives have indicated their plans for retirement or running for other offices. Additionally, 16 lawmakers have exited due to death or resignation from their positions, and 13 representatives lost in the primaries. This year has set a record for the number of early retirement announcements. This has particularly occurred due to the unpopularity of the Trump administration and pressure for generational change among Democratic voters.
These changes include retirements announced by veteran leaders such as Nancy Pelosi from California and Mitch McConnell from Kentucky. Several politicians are also attempting to shift from Washington to state and local positions.
An unusually high number of lawmakers have registered to run for Senate, gubernatorial, and other offices, many of whom also lost in the primaries. Of more than 30 members of Congress seeking other jobs, just over half succeeded in the primaries.
Impacts of the Primaries
According to surveys, since Trump took office in 2017, over 900 individuals have served in Congress. Nearly two-thirds of the current Senate and 44 percent of the current House of Representatives have been in their positions since the beginning of Trump's first presidential term. Only one election in the past century has led to more lawmakers or candidates for other offices exiting, which relates to the 1992 cycle when 65 representatives and 9 senators withdrew from running for re-election.
The ruling party typically loses ground in midterm elections, and this year does not seem to be an exception for Republicans, who are leading in terms of retirements and resignations.
Six lawmakers have died, including Democratic representatives Sylvester Turner from Texas, Raul Grijalva from Arizona, Gerry Connolly from Virginia, and David Scott from Georgia, as well as Republican representative Doug LaMalfa from California and Republican senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina.
Changes in electoral boundaries, pressure for generational change, and Trump-backed challenges have defeated 13 representatives during the primary season. Republican representative Dan Crenshaw from Texas was the first member sent home by voters. Four other representatives from Texas, including Republican senator John Cornyn and Democratic representatives Al Green, Kristi Noem, and Julie Johnson, were elected in the runoff, with only Noem succeeding.
Republican senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana lost in the May 16 primary, and Trump-backed representative Julia Letlow won in the runoff. A few days later, Republican representative Thomas Massie from Kentucky lost to Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallerin.
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Source: npr.org
