With the 2026 midterm elections nearing, a surge of House and Senate departures is setting up an unusually large slate of open-seat races, raising the stakes for control of Congress and amplifying members' complaints about gridlock, intraparty conflict, and limited paths to influence.
As of late February, 68 House and Senate members had said they will not seek reelection, and 31 of them had filed to run for another office.
The scale of early exits is larger than recent cycles at the same point, a Washington Post analysis found, and political scientist Sarah Binder of George Washington University and the Brookings Institution said it appeared to be heading toward "a record number."
Some departing lawmakers blamed a Congress that struggles to legislate, with partisan warfare, intraparty feuds, and narrow majorities that make compromise risky.
Others described feeling stuck. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said in June he would not run for a sixth term, a decision that surprised colleagues who viewed his swing seat as important to the GOP majority.
"It's very hard to move up the ladder in the House unless you're in a very safe district," Bacon said. "I feel like I sort of peaked at what I could do."
He added, "I think it's a little bit glorified here, overly glorified in reality. I mean, I've got the fire to succeed, but 10 years of this was enough."
In the Senate, eight members are retiring from public office after this term, and four senators are seeking governorships: Sens. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
Tuberville joked about the group: "We're quitters!"
He said the chance to run a state appealed to him more than another term in Washington. "I'm more of a CEO type," Tuberville said. "Go hire your own team, your cabinet members. Have a game plan."
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who is retiring after nearly 30 years, said the institution has changed. "Members who used to be active legislators are now active observers," Durbin said. "I think that discourages many people."
The House accounts for most planned exits.
Fifty-four House members have said they are leaving, compared with roughly 40 in the previous three Congresses at this point in the cycle, and 27 of the 54 are running for another office.
Republicans are departing in larger numbers than Democrats, a familiar pattern in midterm years when the president's party controls the White House, and midterm voters often punish that party in Congress.
House Republicans have also been roiled by internal conflict in the past, including the 2023 vote that removed then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from his post.
Several Republicans said those fights were not why they are leaving, but others cited the toll. "I was so mad when eight people out of 223 take down Kevin McCarthy, who most of us liked," Bacon said. "That was a tough one, that takes a little toll."
Most departing members are leaving safe seats, Binder said, but three vulnerable lawmakers, Bacon, Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., and Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, are not seeking reelection, putting competitive districts in play.
Democrats, meanwhile, have been grappling with generational change, with older members citing age and decades of service as factors in their decisions.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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