If you attend a July 4 parade this year, chances are you will see tons of campaign signs and candidates walking the parade route alongside bands, floats and other entertainment.
It is an election year, after all.
But what do you do when you’re a retiring politician with no campaign to run?
The Washington Times interviewed half a dozen retiring members of Congress who were mostly happy to be able to spend their Independence Day with family and friends instead of campaigning. But a few had mixed feelings about missing out on the annual parade tradition.
“I think this may be the first 4th of July in 20 years that I haven’t been in a parade. I may just randomly wave at strangers,” joked Rep. Derek Kilmer, Washington Democrat.
While he may feel the pangs of parade nostalgia, Mr. Kilmer said he also can see the upside to enjoying the holiday as an everyday American. “There’s a lot of grilled meat in my future,” he said.
Rep. Garret Graves, Louisiana Republican, said last week that he hadn’t fully fleshed out his holiday plans following his relatively fresh decision not to run for reelection in a court-ordered redrawn district that now favors Democrats. But he was looking forward to spending time with his kids.
“We normally do a big 4th of July parade,” Mr. Graves said. “This year, actually, I think we’re going to be doing a little bit more fireworks shows, which we normally end up missing because we’re usually bouncing around the parades and stuff.”
Redistricting reduced the parade invites for retiring Maryland Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes, who said last week he was undecided about what July 4 events he will attend.
“Frankly, the redistricting of my district took a lot of parades out of my district that I used to have,” he said. “So the demand is not as great anyway as it used to be.”
Rep. Dan Kildee, Michigan Democrat, is happy to be skipping the parades this year. “I hate parades. I think it’s embarrassing,” he said. “I’m on a firetruck and I’m waving as I’m walking.”
But Mr. Kildee still plans to get out in his district for other events like firework shows.
“I’m doing a lot of the stuff because for retiring members, it’s also a bit of a farewell tour,” he said. “And those sorts of events are a little more cheerful for a farewell tour.”
Heading into both the annual July 4 recess and a longer August congressional break, Mr. Kildee said he’s told his team to identify key stakeholders he’s worked with over the years and make sure he can visit them for “a final lap.”
Not having to campaign and getting to be more selective about the events he chooses to participate in has taken away all of the typical pressure that comes with the job.
“It has the value of allowing you to enjoy the last year in a way that you wouldn’t be enjoying it otherwise,” Mr. Kildee said. “For me that has not caused any regret about leaving. But we just get to do the more interesting stuff and not the mundane.”
Other retiring members also had no regrets as they looked forward to a campaign-free July 4.
“This is all family,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer said. While he has a few constituent events — far fewer than in a typical election year — the Oregon Democrat said he is thrilled to put “family first.”
Rep. Drew Ferguson, Georgia Republican, agreed.
“I hope to be spending time with my family and spending some time working on the farm,” he said.
Mr. Ferguson said his parade invites this year are going to Brian Jack, the Republican running to replace him in Georgia’s 3rd District.
“As it should be in a district like mine,” he said. “We should be helping promote him and making sure that he’s got as much as much exposure in the district as possible.”
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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