Turnover in Congress next year includes some muni finance, infrastructure champions

Forty-five members are set to leave Congress next year, including at least two who are part of the House Municipal Finance Caucus.

That 45 figure is the highest at this point since 2018, according to Ballotpedia. In the House, 37 members are leaving, including 15 Democrats and 22 Republicans. Most of them are seeking other elected offices, many in their home states.

In the Senate, eight members — four Democrats and four Republicans —have announced that they will not seek re-election next year. Seven of those are retiring and one, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is running for governor.

Among the most high-profile of the departing members is Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, chair of the House Budget Committee, who announced last week he would not seek re-election. Arrington also served on the House Ways and Means Committee since 2019. 

Two of the departing House members who sit on the muni finance caucus are hoping to move into Senate seats.

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., is leaving to run for the Senate seat being vacated by former GOP leader Mitch McConnell next year. Barr was one of several House members who signed a letter in April that urged the House Ways and Means Committee to preserve the municipal bond tax exemption as tax-writing work began on reconciliation legislation.

Barr, first elected in 2012, is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee and serves as chair of the House Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., who also sits on the House muni finance caucus, is also running for retiring Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat.

Washington, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who is also part of the muni finance caucus, has said she plans to run again despite calls for the 88-year-old to retire, several primary challengers and anemic fundraising.

Meanwhile, Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., a former Fairfax County supervisor who won a special election in September to replace the late Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, is the newest member of the House muni finance caucus.

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., a long-time high-speed rail advocate and member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is running for Senate. Before joining Congress in 2015, Moulton was director of the Texas Central Railway bullet train project. Moulton and Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., a House municipal finance caucus member, last year introduced the American High-Speed Rail Act to create national high-speed corridor system, following Moulton’s unsuccessful similar bills in 2020 and 2021.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who earned a reputation as a critic of elite higher-education institutions and entered the public finance arena in June when she asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate an April Harvard bond deal, is leaving her seat to run against New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. Financial Services Committee member Rep. Byron Donalds R-Fla., is running for governor and has earned President Trump’s endorsement.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, policy chair of the Freedom Caucus, is leaving to run for Texas attorney general.

On the Senate side, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who sits on the powerful Senate finance and banking committees, will not seek re-election next year. Tillis has been active on some Puerto Rico issues and disaster relief. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who has also advocated on FEMA issues, has said he won’t run for a third term next year. And Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who has sponsored the Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act, is also expected not to run next year.