23 House Republicans (So Far) Have Said They Won’t Run For Re-Election In 2020, Outdoing Pace Of Exits Seen In 2018

A Florida Republican member of Congress has become the 23rd member of his party to say he won’t run for re-election in next year’s House races.

Rep. Ted Yoho announced he would not seek re-election in 2020, AlterNet reported on Tuesday. Yoho is described by that publication as a Tea Party Republican, having espoused several controversial viewpoints — including that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution allowed for private citizens to own nuclear weaponry, as well as the errant belief that states had the right to nullify federal law when it came to recognizing marriage equality.

Prior to Yoho’s announcement, 22 Republicans had already announced they were not going to run for re-election within the House of Representatives. Nine Democratic lawmakers have said the same thing, according to Ballotpedia’s recordings of such announcement.

Republican Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida will not seek reelection in 2020, says he will "pass the baton" https://t.co/CN3amjeuSr pic.twitter.com/xQB3nwdFX5

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 10, 2019

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The pace at which Republicans have announced their refusal to run for re-election — either saying they’re resigning completely from public service, or deciding to run for other offices — is far outpacing the rate of departures that were seen in 2018, when 34 Republican lawmakers decided not to run.

At this same point in the run-up to 2018, just 8 Republicans had announced that they wouldn’t seek another term in the House of Representatives.

Prior reporting in October from HillReporter.com detailed that current polling on the matter found that Americans overall want Congress to be run by Democrats again after the 2020 elections. A Politico/Morning Consult poll from that month, for instance, found that 45 percent of Americans plan to vote for the Democratic candidate in their district next year, while just 36 percent said the same thing about preferring the Republican candidate.