Tennessee's Roe becomes 26th House Republican to retire in 2020

[yortsed snacilbuper]

Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) declared Friday he will not seek a seventh term, becoming the 26th Republican to announce a retirement from the House this cycle.

More than two dozen Republicans are heading for the exits this cycle, and three have already resigned. The majority of them hail from safe GOP territory and will not drastically shape the House battlefield. But the exodus is still an ominous sign for how party veterans view their chance to reclaim the majority. Democrats have just nine members departing the House.

link

[riversedge]

1. ...Roe, an Army veteran and OB-GYN, holds a deep red district in northeast Tennessee

...Roe, an Army veteran and OB-GYN, holds a deep red district in northeast Tennessee that is certain to remain in Republican control. President Donald Trump carried the seat by 57 points in 2016.

His departure is not a surprise. Roe considered retiring in 2018 before deciding to run again. The congressman was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017 but announced he was cancer-free after surgery.

"As someone who practiced medicine for over 30 years, I said I would serve five or six terms because I never intended this job to be a second career," Roe said in a statement, citing a desire to spend more time with his wife, children and grandchildren. "After prayerful consideration, I have decided to retire at the end of the 116th Congress."

[gratuitous]

2. Uh huh

I think that puts the number of Republicans retiring from the House ahead of 2018, at least as a percentage of the caucus, if not in sheer numbers.

Now, maybe all these retirements are happening in "safe" districts, but it's more expensive for a newcomer to run for office than for an incumbent. It also means that these newbies are going to have to develop a lot of their own donor contacts, expending a lot of time and energy that the Republicans would rather use on "at risk" incumbents.

The fact that so many Republicans are hanging it up for 2020 indicates to me that they don't like their chances of winning back the House, and maybe that the Senate is more in play than they're letting on.

This should be a positive spur to Democratic efforts to win every race they can. 2020 could be a tsunami compared to the 2018 blue wave.

[Mc Mike]

3. Like '18.

[guillaumeb]

4. With the upcoming massive Trump victory,

why are all of these Trump enablers leaving?

Is there too much winning?

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. They'd become just another tiny speck

in the cesspool of bazillions of right wing winners.