Two longtime House Democrats announced Monday that they will not seek reelection next year, further complicating the party’s effort to hold on to the majority.
Reps. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania and David Price of North Carolina, who together have more than 50 years of service in Congress, said they will not be returning after next year.
Mr. Doyle, 68, was first elected in 1994 and is part of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s inner circle. Mr. Price, 81, was elected in 1996 and is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.
The lawmakers’ were lauded by their Democratic colleagues for this service.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, who is the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called Mr. Doyle the “dean of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation.’
“His work on a myriad of issues as a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and chair of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will have a lasting impact on our country, but his work on behalf of Americans with autism and their families is what I will remember about Mike the most,” he said. “I will miss working with Mike and join my colleagues in thanking him for his decades of public service.”
Republicans took delight in the news and eyed an expansion of the playing field for 2022, though the two lawmakers’ have safe Democratic districts.
Messrs. Doyle and Price overwhelmingly won their districts in 2020. Mr. Doyle, who represents Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, won his last election with nearly 70% of the ballots cast.
Mr. Price, who represents North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, won his last election with 67% of the vote.
The two lawmakers’ decision to exit follows the retirement announcement last week of Rep. John Yarmouth, a Kentucky Democrat and chairman of the Budget Committee. Mr. Yarmouth will be leaving Congress after six terms.
“Democrats are darting for the exits because they know their days in the majority are quickly coming to an end,” said Calvin Moore, a spokesman for the Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee dedicated to electing Republicans to the House. “Why defend middle-class tax increases, handouts to Pelosi and the skyrocketing cost of living when it’s so much easier to sail off into the sunset?”
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Berg boasted, “Smart Democrats are fleeing Congress as fast as humanly possible because they know Democrats’ majority is coming to an end.”
The NRCC, the campaign arm of the House GOP, has been hammering vulnerable Democratic incumbents for getting “outraised” by their Republican opponents.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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