House Retirements 2018

In every election cycle a certain number of representatives retire leaving behind open seats for their parties to defend. In 2018, the number of open seats, especially Republican held seats, is unusually large. Here are the number of retirements in recent years:

Year Democrats Republicans
2016 18 25
2014 17 25
2012 22 19
2010 17 20
2008 6 27
2006 9 18

This year 19 Democrats and 38 Republicans are retiring at the end of their current term.
Here are the announced retirements so far, sorted on PVI (Partisan Voting Index).
Any seat between R+5 and D+5 is a swing district that has to be fought over, even more so
if occupied by the other party. Pennsylvania districts are not included since the courts redrew the entire map this year.

Representative Party District PVI Reason for leaving
Diane Black Republican TN-06 R+24 Ran for governor and lost primary
Marsha Blackburn Republican TN-07 R+20 Running for senator
Evan Jenkins Republican WV-03 R+23 Running for senator
Raul Labrador Republican ID-01 R+21 Running for governor
Diane Black Republican TN-06 R+20 Running for governor
John Duncan Jr. Republican TN-02 R+20 Retiring from public office
Luke Messer Republican IN-06 R+18 Running for senator
Todd Rokita Republican IN-04 R+17 Running for senator
Jim Bridenstine Republican OK-01 R+17 Was appointed NASA administrator
Kevin Cramer Republican ND-AL R+16 Running for senator
Jeb Hensarling Republican TX-05 R+16 Retiring from public office
Harold "Trey" Gowdy III Republican SC-04 R+5 Retiring from public office
Kristi Noem Republican SD-AL R+14 Running for governor
Bob Goodlatte Republican VA-06 R+13 Retiring from public office
Gregg Harper Republican MS-03 R+13 Retiring from public office
Sam Johnson Republican TX-03 R+13 Retiring from public office
Tom Rooney Republican FL-17 R+13 Retiring from public office
Ted Poe Republican TX-02 R+11 Retiring from public office
Chris Collins Republican NY-27 R+11 Arrested for insider trading
Lynn Jenkins Republican KS-02 R+10 Retiring from public office
Lamar Smith Republican TX-21 R+10 Retiring from public office
Mark Sanford Republican SC-01 R+10 Lost renomination
Joe Barton Republican TX-06 R+9 Got caught sending out dirty pictures
James Renacci Republican OH-16 R+8 Running for governor
Robert Pittenger Republican NC-09 R+7 Lost renomination
Ron DeSantis Republican FL-06 R+7 Running for governor
Steve Pearce Republican NM-02 R+6 Running for governor
Dennis Ross Republican FL-15 R+6 Retiring from public office
Tom Garrett Republican VA-05 R+6 White nationalism, alcohol problem
Paul Ryan Republican WI-01 R+5 Couldn't take the heat any more
Tim Walz Democratic MN-01 R+5 Running for governor
Dave Trott Republican MI-11 R+4 Retiring from public office
Rick Nolan Democratic MN-08 R+4 Retiring from public office
Rodney Frelinghuysen Republican NJ-11 R+3 Retiring from public office
Carol Shea-Porter Democratic NH-01 R+2 Retiring from public office
Jacky Rosen Democratic NV-03 R+2 Running for senator
Darrell Issa Republican CA-49 R+1 Retiring from public office
Frank LoBiondo Republican NJ-02 R+1 Retiring from public office
Martha McSally Republican AZ-02 R+1 Running for senator
Dave Reichert Republican WA-08 Even Retiring from public office
Ed Royce Republican CA-39 Even Retiring from public office
Elizabeth Esty Democratic CT-05 D+2 She failed to fire abusive staffer
Ruben Kihuen Democratic NV-04 D+3 Sex scandal
Sander Levin Democratic MI-09 D+4 Has a position at the University of Michigan
Kyrsten Sinema Democratic AZ-09 D+4 Running for senator
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Republican FL-27 D+5 Retiring from public office
John Delaney Democratic MD-06 D+6 Running for president
Michelle Lujan-Grisham Democratic NM-01 D+7 Running for governor
Louise Slaughter Democratic NY-25 D+8 Louise Slaughter died
Niki Tsongas Democratic MA-03 D+9 Retiring from public office
Jared Polis Democratic CO-02 D+9 Running for governor
Colleen Hanabusa Democratic HI-01 D+17 Running for governor
Beto O'Rourke Democratic TX-16 D+17 Running for senator
Gene Green Democratic TX-29 D+19 Retiring from public office
Keith Ellison Democratic MN-05 D+26 Running for attorney general
John Conyers Democratic MI-13 D+32 Sex scandal
Luis Gutierrez Democratic IL-04 D+33 Retiring from public office


In addition, there are seven vacancies in the House. All require special elections. However, some of these will be held on election day (MI-13, PA-07, and PA-15), which is effectively the same as an open seat, since no incumbent will be running. For this reason, we have counted these as retirements, rather than resignations.

Furthermore, special elections will be held in OH-12 on Aug. 7, TX-27 on June 30, and in OK-01 and NY-25 on dates to be determined.