bailled
merri ok
this category is a special type of revolving door defunct,as it is usually ppl who gave up power voluntarily, either b/c they know thery would not be re-elected, or b/c they saw more power/loot in pvt sector.(or maybe disgusted with biz as usual/grubbing for $)
see also resigned (i added g miller honorable, so need another category?
RINOs? see also primaried , called flanked ( a category) moderate
~ to Our Town book, who says no one ever leaves anymore
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an 3 26
CNN's Manu Raju reported that two sources told him that Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) waited until the last minute to withdraw from his Senate race for a key reason.
Writing Thursday, Raju said that Daines was scared that a popular Democrat would announce they'd run for the open seat and win.
On Wednesday, Daines' announcement was made just eight minutes before the candidate filing deadline closed in Montana. It means there was only a tiny moment for well-known Democrats like former Sen. Jon Tester or former Govs. Brian Schweitzer and Steve Bullock to declare their intentions to run. With such a Democrat on the ballot in a year that is expected to be a blue wave, it would have put the Montana Senate seat in play.
The following day, Thursday, NBC News reported that Daines is among two possible candidates being considered to replace Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The President is reportedly furious with her after her testimony this week before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees
The White House has already contacted Daines’ office, the two sources told NBC News. The report didn't indicate if anyone else was contacted by the White House.
Independent candidate Seth Bodnar said in a statement that Daines “has so little respect for Montana Republicans that he withdrew at the last minute to coronate his handpicked successor instead of giving them a voice at the ballot box.”
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an 3 26
Yet another Republican lawmaker is refusing to seek reelection in 2026, when President Donald Trump’s second term experiences its likely-costly midterm elections.
Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) told reporters on Wednesday that he will not seek reelection, saying in a statement that “after prayer, reflection, and many long conversations, I have decided that I will not seek reelection in 2026. I will complete this term fully committed to my work in Washington, DC, and then step away from elected office.”
He added, “I began this political journey over six years ago with a simple question: Can I do more to advocate for our at-risk children? That question led me into public service, with a focused passion on education where the cancer of hopelessness and training for ‘social advocacy’ has taken hold in too many of our public schools.”
Owens, who has served in the House since 2021, joins a total of 53 US House members and nine US senators who have announced they will not seek reelection this year. Of this group, 37 of the retiring lawmakers are Republicans. Also seeing the writing on the wall, the conservative magazine The Bulwark argued last month that voters are connecting higher prices with Trump’s unpopular tariffs.
“Voters are rarely able to connect policy to outcomes, but they have done so in the case of tariffs,” wrote The Bulwark’s Mona Charen. “Back in 2024, Americans were about equally divided on the question of trade, with some favoring higher tariffs and roughly similar numbers opting for lower tariffs. Experience has changed their views.”
Robert Kagan, a conservative historian with an extensive history writing about foreign policy, warned CNN’s Christiane Amanpour last month that Trump is planning on rigging the midterms because his Republican Party is likely to do poorly in them.
“The U.S. Congress — both parties — are unwilling to really fight Trump,” Kagan told Amanpour, later continuing that “I am worried, as I have said and others have been pointing out, about whether we will even have free and fair elections in 2026, let alone in 2028. I think Trump has a plan to disrupt those elections, and I don't think he's willing to allow Democrats to take control of one or both houses as could happen in a free election.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail T. Jackson told AlterNet in response to these criticisms that the administration is only trying to root out voter fraud.
“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered noncitizen voters,” Jackson told AlterNet. “The President has also urged Congress to pass the SAVE Act and other legislative proposals that would establish a uniform standard of photo ID for voting, prohibit no-excuse mail-in voting, and end the practice of ballot harvesting. Noncitizen voting is a crime. Anyone breaking the law will be held accountable.”
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don bacon mtg tillis?
hcr 11 25, Representative Troy Nehls (R-TX), a staunch Trump ally, announced he would not seek reelection in 2026, saying he intends to “focus on my family.” Nehls co-sponsored legislation to put Trump on the $100 bill—although federal law prohibits using a living person’s likeness on U.S. currency—and to rename Washington Dulles International Airport, which serves the nation’s capital, after Trump.
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trms
Three longtime members of the House, including two who represent swing districts, announced their retirements unexpectedly on Tuesday, joining a wave of lawmakers from both parties who have decided to leave Congress after the midterm elections next year.
Representatives Frank R. Wolf, a Virginia Republican in his 17th term; Tom Latham, an Iowa Republican in his 10th term; and Jim Matheson, a Utah Democrat in his seventh term, surprised their colleagues on Capitol Hill and voters in their districts with their decisions, which came as Congress was wrapping up one of its least productive and most contentious years in recent memory.
All told, there are now nine House members retiring at the end of this Congress, which isn’t an especially large number, at least at this point in the process. But notice the partisan breakdown: eight of the nine are Republicans. Given the high re-election rate for incumbents, the ratio is welcome news at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which certainly wants more vacant “red” seats that could turn “blue.”
(This does not include the 13 House members who are giving up their seats to run for governor or the U.S. Senate. But even within this group, Republicans are putting more seats in play: eight of the 13 are GOP incumbents.)
Yesterday’s announcements were a mixed bag for the parties. Frank Wolf, for example, represents Virginia’s very competitive 10th district, which backed President Obama in 2008, and very nearly supported the Democrat again in 2012. Tom Latham represents Iowa’s 3rd, which is easily the most competitive in the state. This is not to say they’ll be easy Democratic pick-ups, but rather, they’ll be seats Republicans will struggle to defend – and without the retirements, they likely wouldn’t be in play at all.
The news wasn’t all good for Democrats, however. Utah’s Jim Matheson is not only the first House Democrat to retire this cycle, he’s also clearing the way for a likely Republican successor.