Headed for the exits: Why 3 dozen House members aren't running for re-election
Don Bacon, Jared Golden among lawmakers saying toxic political environment makes serving unpleasant
By Paul Steinhauser Fox News
Published November 18, 2025 10:03am EST
Republican Rep. Don Bacon won nine heavily contested GOP primary battles and general elections over the past decade in his swing U.S. House district.
But the retired Air Force general and moderate Republican who represents an Omaha, Nebraska-anchored congressional district told Fox News Digital that "the fire wasn’t there" anymore.
Bacon, who announced this summer that he wouldn't run for a sixth two-year term in Congress in next year's midterms, is one of 36 U.S. House members who've announced they won't seek re-election next year.
And the surge in retirements may impact next year's midterm elections, when Republicans are aiming to protect their fragile House majority.
"We're above average," noted David Wasserman, a senior editor and elections analyst at the non-partisan political handicapper "The Cook Report," as he pointed to the pace of House retirement announcements so far this cycle.
And we've still got six weeks left until the calendar hits 2026.
Waves of retirement announcements traditionally come in the final month or two, amid the holiday season, in the year before congressional elections.
The party breakdown so far on the retirements: 15 Democrats and 21 Republicans.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/headed-exits-why-3-dozen-house-members-arent-running-re-election
