34 members of Congress are quitting so far, but watch for more to come

At least 34 members of Congress—six senators and 28 members of the U.S. House of Representatives—have announced they will not seek re-election.

Twenty-one members—six senators and 16 representatives—have announced their retirement.

Five retiring senators are Republicans and one is a Democrat, but among the retiring House members, 12 are Democrats and four are Republicans.

Richard Burr of North Carolina, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio, Richard Shelby of Alabama, and Roy Blunt of Missouri are the Republicans and Vermont’s 81-year-old Patrick Leahy is the only Democrat leaving the Senate.

Twelve U.S. House members are running for other offices.

Four Republicans and three Democrats are seeking seats in the U.S. Senate, one Republican and one Democrat are running for governor, one Republican is running for secretary of state, one Democrat is running for mayor, and one Democrat is running for attorney general.

No U.S. Senate members are running for other offices.

Democrats are confronting a number of obstacles as they look to map out their 2022 midterm strategy following a series of biting losses in the most recent balloting.

In recent years, an average of 48 members of Congress have opted not to run for re-election in each cycle, ranging from a high of 55 in 2018 to a low of 40 in 2020.