Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-CA) announced his decision not to seek reelection in 2024, joining a quickly expanding group of representatives and senators opting to quit after the recent lengthy speaker and spending battles.
“It will be the first time in 28 years that I’m not on the ballot,” Cardenas said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
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“The truth of the matter is I thought I could do this just for a few years ... I’m just at the age where I have enough energy and experience to maybe do something [different] and have another chapter of a career where I don’t have to go to Washington, D.C., 32 weeks out of the year," he explained.
The California lawmaker is the 30th House member and 20th House Democrat to opt against a reelection bid in 2024, with 19 Democrats and 10 Republicans having announced their intent to leave the lower chamber.
Cardenas is also the 10th congressional member to make such an announcement in November. This number ties the record high of monthly retirements in January 2014, according to Ballotpedia, which has been keeping track of monthly retirements since 2011.
The high number of retirements in 2014 came after the 2013 government shutdown, which lasted from Oct. 1 to Oct. 17.
While Congress has averted a shutdown twice this year, doing so was not accomplished without a struggle, particularly due to the House Republicans' razor-thin majority and party infighting.
The high number of monthly retirements could be evidence that the struggle to pass continuing resolutions to fund the government, the historic ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and the lengthy vote series to instate Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) have worn some members down.
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Although November has seen a relatively large number of defections, the yearly total is on par with past years. But this doesn't mean there isn't a problem. “It’s not the quantity of retirements. It’s the quality,” former Democratic Rep. Steve Israel told the Washington Post. “These are people who really understand how to get things done.”
The relatively late 2024 decisions also put the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee in difficult positions as they look to field candidates for the now-open districts.