Sarah Barracuda may be saying goodbye to electoral politics.
Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images
The end of an election year leads to speculation that certain retired, semi-retired or beaten politicians may not be at the next voter turnout. 2022 was a bumper crop of political careers thwarted or completed. Here are some notable figures who are likely to fade from the national discussion as we head into the new year.
Veteran House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had made it clear in late 2018 that she intended to step down from her leadership post at the end of 2022. A Democratic leader who endorses her nominated successor, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. The majority, who are less slim, probably enjoy the spectacle of Kevin McCarthy struggling.
The Democratic Party gave her the honorary title of Speaker of the Emirate. But her legacy (Obamacare, COVID bailout, two presidential impeachments, cold leadership on Jan. 6, etc.), not to mention her party’s astonishing success in dealing with many factions, has long been a thing of the past. has been protected.
Perhaps no one in recent political history has fueled and shattered speculation about an electoral revival more than former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Until 2022, her last public office was in her 2008 (she then resigned as governor midway through her first and her only term). But with some encouragement (and endorsement) from Donald Trump, Palin jumped into a statewide House election in Alaska, with longtime Congressman Don Young dying in her early 2022. In November, she became a Democrat for her Mary Peltola.
Palin blamed both losses on Alaska’s new voter-driven election system. This system included the top four nonpartisan primaries and a general election that was resolved by ranked choice voting. That’s convenient, but the real reason Sarah Barracuda isn’t going to Congress is because she’s got plenty of second-round ranked choice voting preferences from supporters of Republican Nick Begich III. This reflected the poor reputation she had among Alaskan Republicans, a representative who was clearly fed up with her actions and her own fatigue with normal Alaskan politics and government. In the land where Russia is visible, she no longer has much future.
Throughout 2022, the Political Observatory will track the 10 House Republicans who voted for Trump’s second impeachment in 2021 and the seven Republicans who voted to convict him of impeachment shortly thereafter. I was watching the fate of the Senator. Two House impeachers were re-elected: Don Newhouse of Washington and David Baradao of California. Four retired (New York’s John Catko, Ohip’s Anthony Gonzalez, Illinois’ Adam Kinzinger, and Michigan’s Fred Upton). But then four lost primaries: Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Peter Meyer of Michigan, Tom Rice of South Carolina and Jaime Herrera Beitler of Washington. Cheney’s prominent role in the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 sealed her legacy, but while there’s no shortage of work and speaking gigs for her, her political career in Wyoming has continued. is probably over.
One of the Senate impeachers, Alaska’s Lisa Markowski, will face voters in 2022 and win, benefiting far more from the state’s ranked-choice voting system than Mary Peltra (she defeated Republican Kelly Tzibaka with bipartisan support). I became the president of a university. Utah’s Mitt Romney won’t be re-elected until his 2024, and he’s an adopted state legend. Susan Collins of Maine and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana will not meet voters until 2026.
No Senate incumbents were lost in 2022, but Republicans have nominated several Senate candidates with at best problematic political futures. It’s a local weirdo who might stick around to represent extremists. Arizona’s Blake Masters will take on the next business or political chore devised for him by his patron and mentor, Peter Thiel. Adam Laxalt of Nevada looks like a future perennial contender. Both of these would-be senators have lost considerable altitude.
But Georgia’s Herschel Walker, the political novice who hit hard in 2022, fell short of the rest of the state’s Republican candidates and not only lost the Senate race, but also lost her reputation as a hero. rice field. It is highly unlikely that he will run for any other office, nor is it likely that he will be welcomed back into the campaign trail.
Some of the 2022 retirees left peacefully without pressure within the party. 80-something senators Richard Shelby (Alabama Republican) and Pat Leahy (Vermont Democrat) have announced that they are stepping down after serving a combined 84 years in the Senate. Roy Brandt, 72, of Missouri, and Rob Portman, 67, of Ohio, are relatively young but political veterans who chose to move out on their own terms.
But some old pollsters walk out as losers. Former Republican governor of Florida and Democratic congressman Charlie Christ is relatively young at 66.
Two nationally known Democratic politicians lost back-to-back high-profile statewide election campaigns, calling their political futures into question. Beto O’Rourke of Texas didn’t do as well in his 2022 challenge to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott as he did in his 2018 campaign against Ted Cruz. And he couldn’t run for president in between his two losses. He is no longer a fresh young face.
Georgia rock star Democrat Stacey Abrams also suffered a decisive loss in a rematch with Republican Governor Brian Kemp. job title). But she has her go-to literary and entertainment career, where she remains one of the advocates and organizers of voting rights, and I don’t think she’ll be away for a while.
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