Another Democrat decides to quit as potential 2022 Election Day rout approaches
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
R ep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., is set to announce his retirement from the House in a move that will deal another blow to Democrats' chances of keeping control of the chamber in the midterm elections.
Butterfield, a longtime member and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, will make the announcement Thursday that he will not be seeking reelection, according to reports . The veteran lawmaker was first elected to represent North Carolina's 1st Congressional District in 2004.
The planned announcement comes two weeks after North Carolina's Republican-controlled legislature passed a new congressional map that may put Butterfield's typically safe seat within reach of the GOP, with the new districting going from leaning Democratic by seven points to now leaning Democratic by one point, according to the political website FiveThirtyEight.
Democrats have filed a lawsuit over the map, claiming that the new boundary will dilute the influence of black voters in Butterfield's district. Butterfield vowed earlier this month to continue fighting for his seat.
"I do plan to run again. I'm going to give it everything that I have," Butterfield told ABC11 at the time.
But those plans have now changed, with sources close to the lawmaker telling WRAL that the new district boundary played a key role in his decision to step aside.
Butterfield's planned retirement comes the same week as Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., announced their retirements, adding to a flow of Democratic incumbents that have announced their departure from Congress. A total of 11 Democrats have announced that they will not be seeking reelection in 2022, compared to nine Republicans who plan to retire.
Before being elected to Congress, Butterfield served as an associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court. In addition to being a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Democratic lawmaker was a fierce supporter of making healthcare more affordable and making investments in the country's rural communities.
His retirement is another blow to Democrats as the party clings to an already thin majority ahead of next year's midterm elections. Some analysts believe that the GOP is set to flip at least five seats due to redistricting alone, the exact number of seats the party would need to flip in order to regain the majority in the chamber.
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That brings the total to 14 congressional democrats who aren't even going to bother running next year.
One way to avoid the inevitable defeat embarrassment. TFB
They're seeing the coming embarrassment the democrats are in for.
All we had to do was let them govern from the left. In 2024 we'll have to waste a lot of time reversing all they've done, before we can get to legislation that the country needs.
You can see it in the cards. Not even the "big guns" are going to be able to save them from their own stupidity and negligence of what the American people want. To wit,
LMMFAO
Exactly. This administration is a train wreck.
They'll need the genius that Mark Zuckerberg used in 2020. I don't know if they can pull the same trick twice.
Many on the left wanted the Socialist style government. That's what we are seeing right now. And just like every other socialist government, it's failing. The problem is the left doesn't see the problem.
Ain't gonna fly in this USA.
Of course that's why they're trying to change it into the type of Banana Republic they seem to admire so much.
And Ronald Reagan said it best.......................
"The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.
They think everyone thinks like them. They do know they're cooked, so now it's a mad dash to push through all their insane policies.
Keep watching the elections.
Its like that annoying kid that, when everybody finally gets tired of their shit and finally lays into them, they love the attention but fail to realize what is actually happening.
And none of it good. Everything from attempting to alter the supreme courts to destroying the economy.
LMAO....Great analogy!
Stop looking in the mirror
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Rats do tend to know when their ship is sinking