On Sept. 13, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney (R) became the sixth U.S. Senator to announce they would not run for re-election in 2024.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, was the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2012, when he lost to incumbent President Barack Obama (D). Six years later, in 2018, he was elected to represent Utah in the U.S. Senate, succeeding longtime Sen. Orrin Hatch (R).
Including Romney, 19 members of Congress—six Senators and 13 Representatives—have announced they will not seek re-election in 2024 as of Sept. 16.
This includes 13 Democrats—four in the Senate and nine in the House—as well as six Republicans—two Senators and four House members.
The six U.S. Senators who have announced they are not running for re-election are one more than the five who had announced at this point in the 2022 election cycle and two more than the four who had announced at this point in the 2020 cycle.
No U.S. Senators had announced they would not run for re-election at this point in the 2018 cycle. The first incumbent to do so that cycle was Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) on Sept. 26, 2017.
On the House side, the 13 U.S. Representatives who have announced they are not running for re-election in 2024 are five fewer than the 18 members who had announced at this point in the 2022 cycle, four fewer than the 17 who had announced at this point in the 2020 election cycle, and eight fewer than the 21 who had announced at this point in the 2018 cycle.
Romney and Democratic Sens. Diane Feinstein (Calif.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Ben Cardin (Md.), and Tom Carper (Del.) are retiring from public office. The sixth retiring Senator, Mike Braun (R-Ind.), is running for governor of Indiana.
Ten of the 13 U.S. House members not running for re-election—eight Democrats and two Republicans—are running for the U.S. Senate. These members include seven running for the open seats in California, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, and Indiana, specifically:
- Reps. Barbara Lee (D), Katie Porter (D), and Adam Schiff (D) are running to replace Feinstein;
- Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) is running to replace Carper;
- Rep. David Trone (D) is running to replace Cardin;
- Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) is running to replace Stabenow; and,
- Rep. Jim Banks (R) is running to replace Braun.
And three other House members are challenging incumbent senators:
- Rep. Alex Mooney (R) is running against Sen. Joe Manchin (D) in West Virginia;
- Rep. Rubén Gallego (D) is running against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I) in Arizona; and,
- Rep. Colin Allred (D) is running against Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in Texas.
Additionally, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) is running for state attorney general in North Carolina.
Reps. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) and Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) are the only House incumbents to have announced their retirement from public office.
