Headline Roundup • December 30th, 2021
Several House Democrats Announce Retirement
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Several House Democrats announced their retirement last week in advance of the 2022 midterm elections.
New Jersey's Albio Sires, Florida's Stephanie Murphy and California's Lucille Roybal-Allard all announced last week that they wouldn't seek reelection in 2022. The news brings the number of retiring Democrats to 23, compared with 11 Republicans. Meanwhile, early predictions suggest Republicans have a good chance to retake control of the House of Representatives amid high inflation and poor approval ratings for President Joe Biden. In addition, a number of redistricting plans are resulting in district seats that may be less favorable to Democrats in 2022. In the House, Democrats currently hold a 222 to 213 majority.
Coverage across the spectrum, especially from right-rated outlets, often painted the retirements as evidence that Democrats are struggling ahead of the 2022 elections. Some reports from left- and center-rated sources focused on the observation that the president’s party usually falters in midterm elections.
Featured Coverage of this Story
FILE: Representatives Albio Sires, Stephanie Murphy and Lucille Roybal-Allard.
Just this week, three House Democrats announced they won't seek reelection in 2022: New Jersey's Albio Sires, Florida's Stephanie Murphy and California's Lucille Roybal-Allard. That makes 23 House Democrats who have announced they're retiring or running for another office next year, as the party braces for the possible loss of its already slim majority in the House in next year's midterm elections.
By comparison, just 11 House Republicans have said they're not coming back after their 2020 term ends. Two members, Steve Stivers of Ohio and Devin Nunes of California, resigned...
BILL CLARK/CQ-ROLL CALL, VIA GETTY IMAGES
Just a few hours after we published this article, Democratic Rep. Alan Lowenthal of California announced his retirement from the House.
With Lowenthal’s retirement, 20 House Democrats have now announced they will not seek reelection in 2022, compared with 11 Republicans. Although California has not completed its redistricting process, Lowenthal represents a heavily Democratic district around Long Beach, so unless he ended up facing another incumbent Democrat, he likely wouldn’t have had much trouble winning reelection. But with Republicans favored to take back the House next year, Lowenthal might have decided...
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
With the end-of-the-year holiday break fast approaching, the announcements came quickly.
A trio of Democrats in the House of Representatives – Reps. Stephanie Murphy of Florida, Lucille Roybal-Allard of California, and Albio Sires of New Jersey – last week said that they’ll retire at the end of next year rather than run in the 2022 midterm elections for another term in Congress.
The latest news brought to 23 the number of House Democrats who are retiring or bidding for another office rather than run for reelection in 2022, when their party tries to defend its razor-thin...
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