The Democratic party is having growing concerns over its ability to maintain a majority over Republicans as dozens of lawmakers have announced that they would not be seeking reelections in 2022.
The situation is expected to make a harsh environment for Democrats who want to keep their narrow majority in both chambers of Congress. Several members of the House are seeking other offices, such as in the Senate or their own state's governorships.
Losing Majority Power
However, several other lawmakers blame what they call decennial redistricting and an increasingly toxic environment in Congress as the main reasons why Democrats are exiting. Now, Republicans only need to take five seats to win the House majority in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections.
There have so far been 23 House Democrats that expressed their hesitancy of running for reelection, while 13 Republicans did the same. Only six senators across the Capitol have said that they specifically did not want to run for reelection, including Richard Burr, Pat Toomey, Rob Portman, Richard Shelby, Roy Blunt, and Patrick Leahy, The Hill reported.
The lawmakers that are not seeking reelection include Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a leading voice of House Democrats' moderate wing. The official announced her stance on Monday, which marks another major disadvantage for her party.
Murphy is a Democrat from Florida who was able to flip a GOP-held battleground seat in 2016 while also assisting with her party's playbook for its takeover of the house in 2018. She said that she was leaving the Capitol so that she could have more time with her family, citing her two school-aged children.
"It's been a real honor for me to serve in Congress, but it does come at a personal sacrifice. My time away has been hard on my family and my kids and on me," said Murphy during an interview, Politico reported.
Congressional Democrats
Murphy is the 21st Democrat to announce that she will not be seeking reelection in the 2022 midterm elections. Her announcement came a day after Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia dealt a major blow to United States President Biden and Congressional Democrats for her "no" vote on the nearly $2 trillion Build Back Better Act.
The National Republican Congressional Committee responded to Murphy's announcement by arguing that the Democratic party was going to have a nightmare before Christmas between the collapse of the massive social spending plan and the number of Democratic lawmakers not seeking reelections.
While Murphy's district boundaries are bound to change during a once-in-a-decade redistricting process, she said that her chances of winning or losing her seat did not play a factor in her decision to not run for reelection.
In her statement, Murphy highlighted that her journey started as a fleeing citizen from a violent communist regime to being rescued by the U.S. Navy. She later found work in national security at the Pentagon. Now, she serves as the first Vietnamese-American congresswoman, a journey that she said could only ever happen here in America, the land of the free, Fox News reported.
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