You’ve probably already heard that Darrell Issa is retiring this year and subsequently not running for his seat this year. That brings the total number of Republicans to 31 whose seats will be up for grabs.
Here’s the long list of most of the Republicans who are retiring or running for higher office:
HOUSE:
- Darrell Issa, R-Calif
- Joe Barton, R-Texas
- Jason Chaffetz R-Utah
- Charlie Dent R-Pennsylvania
- Jimmy Duncan Jr., R-Tennessee
- Blake Farenthold, R-Texas
- Trent Franks, R-Arizona
- Bob Goodlatte, R-Virgina
- Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas
- Lynn Jenkins, R-Kansas
- Sam Johnson, R-Texas
- Raul Labrador, R-Idaho
- Frank LoBiondo, R-New Jersey
- Tim Murphy, R-Pennsylvania
- Kristi Noem, R-South Dakota
- Steve Pearce, R-New Mexico
- Ted Poe, R-Texas
- Dave Reichert, R-Washington State
- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Florida
- Ed Royce, R-California
- Bill Shuster, R-Pennsylvania
- Lamar Smith, R-Texas
- Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio
- Dave Trott, R-Mich
SENATE:
- Bob Corker, R-Tennessee
- Jeff Flake, R-Arizona
- Orrin Hatch, R-Utah
This is the only list I’ve found, so I’m not exactly sure who are the remaining four Republicans. The seat for Jeff Sessions has officially gone to a Democrat, so they may be counting that as one of the remaining four.
Out of the touted number of 31, NPR says that 19 are retiring outright and another 12 who are running for higher office. Here’s the potential bad news from NPR:
The last time a party had nearly that many members retire during a midterm year was in 1994, when 28 Democrats left and the GOP subsequently took back control of Congress in the Republican Revolution. Now, it’s Republicans who find themselves in the opposite and unenviable position. Just one year into his term, President Trump has record low approval ratings, congressional Republicans have had few legislative achievements save for the tax overhaul they passed last month, and Democrats seem more fired up than ever to issue a rebuke to the GOP at the ballot box this year.
It sounds like the Republicans in Congress have their work cut out for them if they wants to keep the majority next year. In a gesture of goodwill, they could start by keeping their promise and repealing Obamacare.