List of U.S. Congress incumbents who did not run for re-election in 2012

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2014



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2012 Congress Elections

Election Date
November 6, 2012

Election Results

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Elections Information
Election DatesVoting in Primaries
Voting on November 6, 2012
Poll Opening and Closing Times

This page lists the incumbent members of the 112th U.S. Congress who did not run for re-election in the 2012 Congress elections.


A total of 53 members of the 112th U.S. Congress did not run for re-election, which represented 9.9 percent of the 535 members.

U.S. Senate members

A total of 10 U.S. Senate incumbents did not run for re-election. The 10 retiring incumbents represented 30.3% of incumbents who were eligible to run for re-election.

  • Democratic Party 6 Democrats
  • Republican Party 3 Republicans
  • Grey.png 1 Independent
Name Party State
Ben Nelson Electiondot.png Democratic Nebraska
Daniel Akaka Electiondot.png Democratic Hawaii
Herb Kohl Electiondot.png Democratic Wisconsin
Jeff Bingaman Electiondot.png Democratic New Mexico
Jim Webb Electiondot.png Democratic Virginia
Joe Lieberman Grey.png Nonpartisan Connecticut
Jon Kyl Ends.png Republican Arizona
Kay Bailey Hutchison Ends.png Republican Texas
Kent Conrad Electiondot.png Democratic North Dakota
Olympia Snowe Ends.png Republican Maine

U.S. House members

A total of 43 U.S. House incumbents did not run for re-election in 2012. The 43 incumbents who retired represent 9.7% of incumbents who were eligible to run for re-election.

  • Democratic Party 23 Democrats
  • Republican Party 20 Republicans
Name Party State
Barney Frank Electiondot.png Democratic Massachusetts
Bob Filner Electiondot.png Democratic California
Bob Turner Ends.png Republican New York
Brad Miller Electiondot.png Democratic North Carolina
Charles A. Gonzalez Electiondot.png Democratic Texas
Christopher S. Murphy Electiondot.png Democratic Connecticut
Connie Mack Ends.png Republican Florida
Dale E. Kildee Electiondot.png Democratic Michigan
Dan Boren Electiondot.png Democratic Oklahoma
Dan Burton Ends.png Republican Indiana
David Dreier Ends.png Republican California
Dennis Cardoza Electiondot.png Democratic California
Denny Rehberg Ends.png Republican Montana
Ed Towns Electiondot.png Democratic New York
Elton Gallegly Ends.png Republican California
Gary Ackerman Electiondot.png Democratic New York
Geoff Davis (a) Ends.png Republican Kentucky
Heath Shuler Electiondot.png Democratic North Carolina
Jay Inslee (b) Electiondot.png Democratic Washington
Jeff Flake Ends.png Republican Arizona
Jerry F. Costello Electiondot.png Democratic Illinois
Jerry Lewis Ends.png Republican California
Joe Donnelly Electiondot.png Democratic Indiana
John Olver Electiondot.png Democratic Massachusetts
Lynn Woolsey Electiondot.png Democratic California
Martin Heinrich Electiondot.png Democratic New Mexico
Maurice Hinchey Electiondot.png Democratic New York
Mazie K. Hirono Electiondot.png Democratic Hawaii
Mike Pence Ends.png Republican Indiana
Mike Ross Electiondot.png Democratic Arkansas
Norm Dicks Electiondot.png Democratic Washington
Rick Berg Ends.png Republican North Dakota
Ron Paul Ends.png Republican Texas
Shelley Berkley Electiondot.png Democratic Nevada
Steve Austria Ends.png Republican Ohio
Steven C. LaTourette Ends.png Republican Ohio
Sue Wilkins Myrick Ends.png Republican North Carolina
Tammy Baldwin Electiondot.png Democratic Wisconsin
Thaddeus McCotter (c) Ends.png Republican Michigan, District 11
Timothy V. Johnson Ends.png Republican Illinois
W. Todd Akin Ends.png Republican Missouri
Todd Russell Platts Ends.png Republican Pennsylvania
Wally Herger Ends.png Republican California
(a) - After originally announcing he would not seek re-election, Davis subsequently resigned prior to the end of the 112th Congress on July 31, 2012.
(b) - After announcing he would run for governor rather than re-election to Congress, Inslee subsequently resigned from the House of Representatives on March 10, 2012.
(c) - McCotter failed to file enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot for his House seat. He subsequently resigned prior to the end of the 112th Congress on July 6, 2012.

Officials who left office early

The following members of the 112th U.S. Congress did not complete their term.

Name Party Prior Office
Anthony Weiner Electiondot.png Democratic New York
David Wu Electiondot.png Democratic Oregon
Donald M. Payne Electiondot.png Democratic New Jersey
Gabrielle Giffords Electiondot.png Democratic Arizona
Thaddeus McCotter Ends.png Republican Michigan

Analysis

Historical comparison

The following table includes figures on Democratic and Republican members of Congress who either left office during their term or announced that they would not seek re-election for each election year since 2012.

Outgoing members of Congress, 2012-2018
Year Chamber Democrats not seeking re-election Republicans not seeking re-election Total not seeking re-election Democrats leaving office early Republicans leaving office early Total leaving office early
2018
U.S. Senate 0 3 3 1 2 3
U.S. House 18 34 52 3 14 17
Total 18 37 55 4 16 20
2016
U.S. Senate 3 2 5 0 0 0
U.S. House 16 24 40 2 5 7
Total 19 26 45 2 5 7
2014
U.S. Senate 5 2 7 3 2 5
U.S. House 16 25 41 3 6 9
Total 21 27 48 6 8 14
2012
U.S. Senate 6 3 10[1] 0 0 0
U.S. House 23 20 43 4 1 5
Total 29 23 53 4 1 5

Retirements as a percentage of party caucus

The number of retirements in each party as a percentage of the party's total number of Congressional members illustrates the amount of turnover happening within a party in a given election cycle. The table below shows Congressional retirements as a percentage of each party's total caucus members immediately following the previous election.

Retirements as percent of Democrat and Republican caucus
Cycle Total retiring incumbents Retiring Democrats Retiring Democrats as percentage of caucus Retiring Republicans Retiring Republicans as percentage of caucus
2022 55 32 11.85% 23 8.75%
2020 40 10 3.57% 29 11.46%
2018 55 18 7.44% 37 12.63%
2016 45 19 8.12% 26 8.64%
2014 48 21 8.47% 27 9.41%

Prior election margins of victory

Retirements in districts with a narrow margin of victory (MOV) can indicate a potentially competitive election in the next cycle. Retirements from seats with a margin of victory of less than 10 percentage points in each election cycle included:

  • Seven Democrats and three Republicans out of 56 total retirements in the 2022 cycle
  • Seven Republicans out of 40 total retirements in the 2020 cycle
  • Five Democrats and three Republicans out of 55 total retirements in the 2018 cycle
  • Five Democrats and one Republican out of 45 total retirements in the 2016 cycle
  • Five Democrats and Five Republicans out of 48 total retirements in the 2014 cycle
Retirements in districts that had a MOV of 10 percentage points or less in the prior cycle, 2014-2022
Cycle Total retiring incumbents Retiring incumbents with MOV of <10% Retiring Democrats with MOV of <10% Retiring Republicans with MOV of <10%
2022 55 10 7 3
2020 40 7 0 7
2018 55 8 5 3
2016 45 6 5 1
2014 48 10 5 5

The average 2016 margin of victory of House incumbents not running for re-election in 2018 was 29.7 percent. By comparison, the average 2014 margin of victory of those House members who did not run for re-election in 2016 was 34.1 percent.

Ballotpedia noted the margin of victory in the previous election of U.S. House incumbents who did not run for re-election in 2018, as compared to those incumbents who did not run for re-election in 2016. This data is shown in the chart below. The average margin of victory in all U.S. House races in 2016 was 36.7 percent.

Note: This data for this analysis includes six members who announced they were not running for re-election in the 2018 cycle prior to their resigning from the House of Representatives.

See also

  1. Figure includes Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).