Election News

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a popular Republican governor in a deep blue state, said Wednesday that he will not seek a third term in 2022. 

?@MassGovernor? is NOT running for a third term. Here’s the letter to supporters that just went out. #wcvb pic.twitter.com/Qql3yQQ1O4

— Karen Anderson (@karenreports) December 1, 2021

More popular with Democrats and Independents than his own party, Baker was facing a primary challenge from the right by Donald Trump-endorsed former state Rep. Geoff Diehl.

Democrats in the race already include State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz and former State Sen. Ben Downing. Popular Attorney General Martha Healey, a moderate, has considered running. That candidacy may now be more likely given the incumbent's departure.

The race was seen as Likely Republican with Baker running; we expect forecasters to dramatically shift those ratings towards Democrats in the days ahead. Thus far, Cook Political has moved its rating from Safe Republican to Leans Democratic.

Atlanta Mayor

No candidate received a majority of the vote in the November 3 election, necessitating Tuesday's top two runoff. As expected, City Council President Felicia Moore finished first. She received 41% of the votes across the 14-person field. 

In a bit of a surprise, City Councilman Andre Dickens edged out former two-term mayor Kasim Reed by 600 votes to claim the second spot. Dickens received 23% of the overall vote. Dickens has been endorsed by outgoing mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

The runoff looks competitive. There have been two polls, which offset each other. A University of Georgia survey showed Dickens with a six-point lead over Moore, while a SurveyUSA poll found just the opposite. Both polls had a significant number of undecided voters.

Rep. Tom Suozzi (NY-3) has entered the 2022 race for governor of New York. He made his announcement Monday morning.

This will be Suozzi's 2nd run for governor. In 2006, he lost the Democratic Primary to Eliot Spitzer by 82% to 18%. 

Rep. Louie Gohmert is giving up his safe seat in Congress to run for Texas Attorney General. Gohmert joins a crowded field looking to unseat incumbent Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. His entry comes relatively late, as Texas kicks off the 2022 election calendar with primaries on March 1.

Gohmert is a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump. However, Trump is already spoken for in this election. He endorsed Paxton for a third term last summer, choosing to back the incumbent over Land Commissioner George P. Bush. 

There are 52 seats in the Mississippi State Senate. The chamber is overwhelmingly Republican; that party holds 36 seats, Democrats 15.

District 32 includes much of Meridian and points north. It reaches the Alabama border to the east. It has been vacant since Democrat Sampson Jackson retired June 30, less than two years through the current four-year term.  He had been in the Senate since 1992.

Nine candidates, including Jackson's son Keith, met in a nonpartisan special election on November 2. Keith Jackson finished third with 13%. No candidate received a majority of the vote, necessitating a runoff.

Democratic Rep. Peter Welch, Vermont's at-large U.S. House representative since 2007, is seeking a promotion. On Monday, he announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by the retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy (D).

I'm running for the United States Senate to work for you, for Vermont, for our country, and for our imperiled democracy.

Join us: https://t.co/ReVLvWEM4T pic.twitter.com/lGKX7ZJJgP

— Rep. Peter Welch (@WelchForVT) November 22, 2021

Welch was elected in 2006, after then Rep. Bernie Sanders (I) retired to run for the Senate seat he now holds. In a bit of historical alignment, Sanders served eight terms in the House and replaced a retiring Senator, Jim Jeffords (R). Welch is now completing his 8th term, and starts out as a strong favorite to replace the retiring Leahy.

Sanders endorsed Welch shortly after he officially entered the race. 

Vermont is the only state that has never sent a woman to Congress. Several have publicly expressed interest in the House seat, pending Welch's decision.

Texas Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson won't seek reelection in 2022. Johnson, who will be 86 in early December, had said in 2019 that she was planning to serve one more term. However, until Saturday, no official retirement announcement had been made.  According to the Dallas Morning News, "Johnson said people had been urging her to run for another term in Congress and she went back and forth about the decision but eventually decided to retire."

Johnson represents the safely Democratic 30th district, which includes much of the city of Dallas, and nearby areas to the south. She won her 15th and final term by 59% in 2020; Joe Biden carried the district by 61 points. Congressional redistricting in Texas has changed the current district boundaries (shown below) only slightly for 2022. 

North Carolina Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield will not seek reelection next year. He is expected to make an official announcement Thursday. Now in his 10th term, Butterfield is the 2nd most senior member of the state's U.S. House delegation. The most senior member, Democrat David Price, is also retiring. 

Butterfield will be the third long-time Democratic member of Congress to announce their retirement this week. On Monday, it was Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy; yesterday's decision came from California Rep. Jackie Speier. 

Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier (CA-14) won't seek a ninth term in 2022, she announced Tuesday. She becomes the 14th current House Democrat to announce they are retiring or seeking another office. Ten Republicans have made that decision, as well.

pic.twitter.com/nEr9AnqN7A

— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) November 16, 2021

The Bay Area 14th district is safely Democratic; Speier won a final term in 2020 by nearly 60 points.  While the boundaries of the district will likely change a bit after redistricting, there is very little chance of it becoming a competitive seat next year.

Speier had a long career in politics before being elected to Congress in 2008. It was born out of tragedy. In 1978, she was an aide to Rep. Leo Ryan (D), and was among those who accompanied him on a fact-finding mission to Jonestown in Guyana, where the San Francisco-based People's Temple had established a settlement. Ryan was assassinated on that trip, and Speier survived five gunshot wounds. Days later, over 900 members of the cult perished in a mass murder/suicide. 

Speier unsuccessfully ran for Ryan's seat in 1979. She won her first election, to the California State Assembly, in 1986.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said Monday that he will not seek a 9th term in 2022. First elected in 1974, Leahy has the most seniority of any currently serving Senator.

Leahy is chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and serves on the Judiciary and Agriculture Committees. He is president pro tem of the Senate (most senior member of majority party), placing him third in line for presidential succession.