Tag: retire

Sen. Harry Reid (D, Nevada) cuts and runs.

But… my birthday is tomorrow.

Mr. Reid, 75, who suffered serious eye and facial injuries in a Jan. 1 exercise accident at his Las Vegas home, said he had been contemplating retiring from the Senate for months. He said his decision was not attributable either to the accident or to his demotion to minority leader after Democrats lost the majority in November’s midterm elections.

See also the Weekly Standard, which has Harry Reid’s remarkably tin-eared attempt to spin his retirement into something that would be helpful for Democrats retaking the Senate. Only in the sense that Harry Reid will no longer be around to blight the long-term careers of red-state Democratic politicians: his tenure has had a remarkable amount of churn in that regard.  Also, Nevada just shot up the rankings on the Big Board: and if Governor Brian Sandoval decides to run for Senate, it pretty much goes off of the Big Board completely. Continue reading Sen. Harry Reid (D, Nevada) cuts and runs.

Sen. Dan Coats (R, Indiana) to retire at end of term.

A bit of a surprise, which hopefully doesn’t mean that the man is ill. I’ve certainly heard no rumors of scandal associated with Senator Coats, and you usually hear those things ahead of time; the Senator is in his early seventies, and has been in various federal public offices since the late Eighties, so possibly Dan Coats is simply ready to retire. Continue reading Sen. Dan Coats (R, Indiana) to retire at end of term.

Two more Democrats take their balls and go home.

Freshman Gloria McLeod of CA-35 and long-time Representative Rush Holt of NJ-12. No great loss, in either case. McLeod’s a California apparatchik who apparently misses the little pond of county government and Holt was someone who aspired to scientific gadfly*, but only achieved “mild aggravation.” Double-digit Democratic districts – say that five times, real fast – that were lovingly redistricted to keep ’em that way**; still, every time we see one of these seats get filled with a hothouse flower of a freshman legislator it’s a mild gain for us.

I wonder if this is the end of the retirement wave? Continue reading Two more Democrats take their balls and go home.

Rob Andrews (D, New Jersey-01) cuts and runs. While still under an House Ethics investigation.

Gee.  I wonder why.

Rep. Robert E. Andrews, D-N.J., will resign from Congress this month to take a job with a Philadelphia Law Firm, according to a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Andrews, a Pelosi ally, is scheduled to host an 11:30 a.m. press conference in his southern New Jersey district, the newspaper also reported.

The 12-term Democrat is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which was reportedly questioning whether the congressman used funds from his re-election campaign to pay for a trip to Scotland for his family.

More on that: Continue reading Rob Andrews (D, New Jersey-01) cuts and runs. While still under an House Ethics investigation.

Will Senator Tim Johnson (D, South Dakota) retire?

Very possibly.  From the Washington Post:

…in a telephone press conference with South Dakota reporters on Wednesday, Johnson said his earlier statement should have been more clear about the prospects he will seek a fourth term.

“If I run again, I will run a strong campaign is what I meant. But only if I run again, and it’s far too soon to make that statement,” Johnson said.

Continue reading Will Senator Tim Johnson (D, South Dakota) retire?