Republicans are expected to retake control of the House of Representatives in 2022, and some Democrats are not hanging around to see it happen. Republicans only need to take a handful of seats in 2022.
The optics of these retirements are terrible for Pelosi’s slim House majority and the Biden administration.
Rep. David Price of North Carolina is the latest to announce.
Albert Hunt writes at The Hill:
Another voice of reason retiresThe disparate House Democratic caucus is broken into factions: left-wing progressives, mainstream moderates, old bulls, young turks. Then there is David Price, a wise owl who comes as close as any to winning respect from all. After more than three decades in the House, the North Carolinian this week announced this is his last term.Price has brought a unique perspective, a practicing politician even before Congress and a political science professor at Duke University. He appreciates the theoretical, the institutional and the practical. Price has written four books on Congress, is an effective legislator, and a Baptist lay minister on the side.I interviewed Price the day after his retirement announcement. He recalled, with fondness, those salad days when he first arrived in the late 1980s.Since then, the House, he says, “has changed in major ways: some positive, others not so much.”
Rep. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania announced his retirement earlier this week.
Juliegrace Brufke reported at the New York Post:
Two senior House Democrats announce retirementsDemocratic Reps. Mike Doyle and David Price announced Monday they will not seek re-election after serving more than two decades in the House.The announcements come as House Democrats face a series of challenges in retaining control of the lower chamber of Congress…Doyle (D-Pa.), 68, is a senior member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, serving as chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.“I believe the time has come to pass the torch to the next generation, this was not an easy decision, and I spent most of this year going back and forth,” he said at a press conference.Doyle added in a statement that with the redrawing of congressional lines, it felt like a “good transition time for a new member.”“This is a good transition time for a new member to start in a newly drawn district,” he said. “There are many people who might not consider running if they thought I was going to run, so I want to give them the time and opportunity to do so.”
Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California predicts more retirements are on the way.
Theodore Bunker reports at Newsmax:
Kevin McCarthy: More House Dems Will Retire Before MidtermsHouse Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News on Tuesday that he predicts more Democrats in the Lower Chamber will state their intent to retire before the midterm elections next year, following several retirement announcements last week.Democrat Reps. David Price of North Carolina and Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania announced Monday that they intend to retire before the next election, joining Democrat John Yarmuth of Kentucky, who chairs the House Budget Committee, who announced his intent to retire at the end of his current term last week. McCarthy predicted on Tuesday that more retirements will be announced after the upcoming holiday season.”Once you get past Thanksgiving and members go home, and they’re Democrats and they’ve been challenged before and they’re going to get beat up, Congress is not that great,” McCarthy said.
Do you think these Democrats would be retiring if they were excited about what’s going to happen over the next few years or if Biden was wildly popular?
This is a sign of things to come.
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