More and more lawmakers are choosing to leave Capitol Hill

House Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who served as temporary speaker for three weeks earlier this year, announced yesterday that he won't be running for reelection when his term ends.

And McHenry isn’t the only lawmaker getting the hell out of Dodge. So far, a total of seven senators and 31 House members have announced they'll be leaving Congress – including 13 last month, the highest number in more than a decade, according to Ballotpedia. These numbers aren’t one-sided either, they include both Democrats and Republicans.

Driving the exodus… If you’ve seen the movie The Perfect Storm, it’s a little like that. Except in this case, the elements of the perfect storm are dysfunction/extreme partisanship, age/health concerns, and ambition.

Many retiring lawmakers cite chaos that makes governing difficult if not near-impossible, extreme partisanship, and childish behavior — for example, insults like "p***y" and "smurf" were exchanged on Capitol Hill last month – as their reason for leaving, while others are on the older side and just hanging it up. Ten Democratic House members are also leaving to run for the Senate or presidency.

🏛️ Bottom line: Most of the departures announced so far don’t involve competitive seats. But the handful that do provide pickup opportunities for Republicans or Democrats that could help determine who controls Congress come 2025.