Another member of the U.S. House of Representatives is declining to run in 2024.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) will step down at the end of his term after representing Oregon in the House for 29 years, he announced on Oct. 30.
“Simply said, it is time to continue my life’s mission without the burden of day-to-day politics,” Mr. Blumenauer, 75, said in a statement.
He said the choice to step down was difficult but that he will keep “championing livable communities starting right here in Portland and being a resource and a partner for the next generation.”
Mr. Blumenauer has been an elected official since 1973. He served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, on the Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners, and as the Portland city commissioner before entering Congress after winning a special election in 1996.
“I have been fortunate to call Earl Blumenauer a mentor and a friend since I first ran for Congress. The Portland region, the State of Oregon, and the country have all benefitted enormously from Earl’s vision and leadership,” Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), 69, said in a statement.
Mr. Blumenauer has easily won races since to continue representing Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District. He won the 2022 election with 70 percent of the vote.
The district has been represented by Democrats since 1955, and political handicappers rate it as safe Democrat even without the incumbent running for another term.
More Retirements
Two other House Democrats also announced recently they will not run again.Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), 61, said he was going to leave Congress, where he’s been since 2007, to work with nonprofits.
“While I am making this announcement today—specifically for the benefit of candidates interested in running for my seat in next year’s election—I’m not going anywhere for the next fourteen months. That’s what’s left in my term and I’m committed to finishing strong,” Mr. Sarbanes said in a statement.
Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-N.C.), 41, who just assumed office in January, said he was not trying for another term because of redistricting approved by North Carolina legislators that changed the makeup of the district he represents.
Mr. Jackson said in a video statement he will run for North Carolina attorney general in a bid to “go after political corruption” after decrying the Republican-controlled legislature’s redistricting.
Several other incumbents—Reps. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.), 47, and Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), 66—are considering whether to run in 2024 because of the updated map.
Fourteen Democrats have now said they'll forgo 2024 bids for the House, though some of those members, including Reps. Colin Allred (D-Texas), 40, and Katie Porter (D-Calif.), 49, are running for U.S. senate seats.
Five Republicans, including Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), 44, and Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), 52, are not running in 2024.
Phillips Challenges Biden
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) is among the other members who have not yet said they will not run in 2024, but who could leave the House.Mr. Phillips, 54, said he’s challenging President Joe Biden for the Democrat presidential nomination.
“We’ve got some challenges,” Mr. Phillips said in a video statement. He added later, “We’re going to repair this economy, and we are going to repair America.”
Mr. Phillips is a three-term House Democrat from a swing district, but could end up defending his seat. A number of presidential contenders from 2016 and 2020 have remained in Congress after dropping out of the races.
The Biden campaign said in a statement that the president is “proud of the historic, unified support he has from across the Democratic party for his reelection,” adding that “the campaign is hard at work mobilizing the winning coalition that President Biden can uniquely bring together to once again beat the MAGA Republicans next November.”
Mr. Phillips’ entry into the race comes after the Biden campaign informed the New Hampshire Democratic Party the president will not submit his name to appear on the state’s primary ballot because the state didn’t comply with President Biden’s demand that New Hampshire give up its first-in-the-nation primary status in favor of South Carolina.
The Democratic Party is expected to penalize New Hampshire by robbing it of all its delegates, leaving the winner no closer to securing the delegates needed to win the party nomination.
Top New Hampshire Democrats expect a write-in campaign to kick off on behalf of President Biden.
Opinion polls show Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents want someone other than President Biden, 80, to be the party’s nominee, citing concerns about his age.
“I would like to see Joe Biden, a wonderful and remarkable man, pass the torch, cement this extraordinary legacy,” he said on NBC.
