Virginian Rep. Gerry Connolly announced Monday that he would have to step down as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, and will not seek re-election.
Connolly's announcement came only months after he beat out New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to be head Democrat on the committee, despite the fact the 75-year-old Connolly learned shortly after the election that he had esophageal cancer.
Ocasio-Cortez has since left Oversight, and joined the Energy & Commerce Committee, which she always wanted to participate in since it deals with energy policy and health care, her two big priorities.
But it's part of a larger trend happening within the Democratic Party: After years of valuing experience, and accusations of promoting a gerontocracy, the party is slowly passing the torch to its younger members.
Earlier this year, Senator Gary Peters of Michigan announced that he will not seek re-election, which set off a competition between state Senator Mallory McMorrow, Rep. Haley Stevens and progressive activist and physician Abdul El-Sayed in hopes of replacing him.
"I'm confident we're going to win. It's going to be a good Democratic year," Peters told The Independent. "In the case of Michigan, we've got a really strong bench."
Minnesota Senator Tina Smith, who is 67 and was appointed to the Senate in 2018, cited her grandchildren as a reason for her retirement.
"I could just say that, for me, I thought about how I wanted to spend the next 10 years of my life," she told The Independent back in February. "I realized ... I actually really like my family, and I wouldn't be able to spend more time with them" if she ran and won again."
Her retirement paves the way for potentially the first Native American female senator, since Minnesota's Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan announced her candidacy for Smith's job.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, who is 80, also announced just last week that he would not run for re-election.
That paves the way for Illinois to potentially elect only its second Black female senator in Lieutenant Governor Julianna Stratton — or Rep. Lauren Underwood if she decides to get in the race.
In addition, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who is 78, announced she will not seek re-election, which means Chris Pappas could become the first openly gay male senator.
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