Another GOP Texan in Congress leaving
AUSTIN — Another Texas Republican in Congress is calling it quits.
Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, is the fourth member of Congress from Texas in less than two weeks to announce that he is not seeking reelection.
“It is time for me to announce that I will not seek another term as congressman from the 24th District of Texas,” Marchant said. “I am looking forward to finishing out my term and then returning to Texas to start a new chapter.”
His departure follows that of Will Hurd, a San Antonio Republican, who announced Thursday that he, too, will not seek reelection. A day earlier, Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Midland, said he wasn’t seeking re-election. And a week before that, U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, declared that he will not seek another two-year term in office.
The surge of Republican retirements is not entirely unexpected, said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political science professor. He said that after power in Washington shifts from one party to the next, there is typically a surge of retirements from members who had been in the majority but are now in the minority. Democrats regained the majority in the House last year and are favored to retain or even increase that majority in 2020.
For Democrats, Marchant’s retirement means another competitive district in Texas without an incumbent. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had targeted Marchant’s 24th District as one of six Texas seats it sees as top priorities heading into 2020.
“Congressman Marchant’s retirement comes just four months after the DCCC responded to the energy on the ground in Texas and opened an office there, placed six senior staffers on the ground and deployed organizers in key communities across the state to lay the groundwork for victory next year,” DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos said.
Texas is undergoing a major shift in its congressional delegation. In the last two years, 12 members of the state’s 36-member delegation have retired, and two others were defeated as they sought reelection. In the previous 12 years, just four members from Texas retired.
More retirements could be coming.
Dave Wasserman, who analyzes House races for the Cook Political Report in Washington, D.C., said he’s now watching closely to see what Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, and John Carter, R-Round
Rock, do. Like Marchant, Olson and Hurd, McCaul and Carter survived tight reelections in 2018 and are now in the minority, where they have less ability to shape the agenda in Congress.
Wasserman has classified Marchant’s district and Olson’s 22nd District as toss-up races in 2020. He said Hurd’s 23rd District, without Hurd on the ticket, leans now toward a Democrat in 2020.