Two More House Dems Announce They Won’t Seek Re-Election Bringing the Total to 22

U.S. House Reps Albio Sires (D-NJ) and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) have announced that they won’t seek re-election, bringing the total to 22 Democrats who have made such an announcement.

That means that nearly 10% of the current Democrats in the House of Representatives won’t be returning in 2023.

It has been reported that Robert J. Menendez, the son of Democratic Sen Bob Menendez, has emerged as the front runner to succeed Sires, who made the announcement yesterday.

Sires represents a dark blue section of New Jersey so it seems unlikely that he will be replaced by a Republican but it is also possible that he could be replaced by a more progressive politician.

In 2020, Sires faced a challenge from progressive Hector Oseguera and he tweeted out earlier, “The @HudsonDems need to realize that this is a democracy & the people want an #NJ08ForProgress!”

The @HudsonDems need to realize that this is a democracy & the people want an #NJ08ForProgress! ✊🏽

— Hector Oseguera, Esq. (@Oseguera2020) December 20, 2021

Murphy is a leading voice of House Democrats’ moderate wing and her decision, announced today, is considered a “stinging loss” according to Politico.

In 2016, Murphy flipped a GOP-held battleground seat in 2016 and helped write the party’s playbook for its House takeover two years later.

Murphy was thought to potentially be considering a run for senate against Republican Marco Rubio but that seems unlikely at this point based on her announcement.

“We’ll have to see what happens in the future,” Murphy said in an interview announcing her departure.