Republicans look for advantage as House Democrats opt for retirement over re-election – By Teaganne Finn (NBC News) / Nov 7 2021
The narrow 221-213 Democratic House majority could be in serious danger as members see the midterms as unwinnable.
WASHINGTON — House Democrats seemed to have gotten the message from Tuesday’s elections: The political winds are not blowing in their favor.
After months of delays and stalemates, House Democrats passed the $555 billion infrastructure bill within days, a measure political prognosticators told them could help reverse the tide of Republican success in elections.
But Republican Glenn Youngkin’s win in the Virginia governor’s race is likely to have made a lot more Democrats nervous about the ease with which they’ll be able to hold on to their seats.
And there is nervousness in some Democratic quarters that the warning will be heeded by some lawmakers in a different way: They’ll give up and retire instead of running for re-election.