The so-called “Biden effect” appears to be a factor in congressional longevity after Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin announced he would not seek re-election after nearly four decades in Congress.<\/p>\n
In 2024, President Joe Biden was politically pushed out after a disastrous debate performance against President Donald Trump<\/a> in favor of his decades-younger deputy, Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n Since then, several senators \u2013 mostly Democrats \u2013 and many above private-sector retirement age, have announced their retirement.<\/p>\n “This is fallout from the ‘Biden Effect,'” said Rutgers University political scientist Ross Baker. “It contaminated old Democrats.”<\/p>\n Durbin, 80, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., 78, Tina Smith, D-Wis., 67, Gary Peters, D-Mich., 66, as well as Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., 83, all announced their exit in 2025.<\/p>\n Prior to Biden’s infamous debate, several 2024-cycle Democrats \u2013 now-former Sens. Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, 81, Tom Carper of Delaware, 78, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, 74, and Democrat-turned-independent Joe Manchin of West Virginia, 77 \u2013 all declared their exits.<\/p>\n SCHUMER SINKS AOC SOARS IN NEW POLL AS LIBERAL VOTERS DEMAND HARDER LINE ON TRUMP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Durbin\u2019s seat has already been targeted by up-and-coming Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, 20 years his junior \u2013 who announced a bid shortly after he announced his retirement.<\/p>\n Of the members still seated in Congress, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer<\/a>, D-N.Y., 74, is potentially facing a heated primary in 2028 from the likes of progressive star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 35.<\/p>\n After Schumer faced intense backlash from his own party for ultimately supporting the GOP\u2019s government funding bill earlier this month, Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s name returned to the discussion as a young upstart potentially taking out the old guard.<\/p>\n MCCONNELL FREEZES AGAIN DURING KENTUCKY PRESS CONFERENCE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Schumer saw<\/a> his worst polling within the Empire State in 20 years, according to a Siena College survey, with the Brooklynite 10 points underwater following the funding bill debacle.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez’s favorables are 47-33 in New York, up about 10 points from 2021.<\/p>\n A renewed push for older Democrats to pass the torch came when DNC vice chair David Hogg launched a project to recruit and bankroll primary opponents for older Democratic incumbents.<\/p>\n “Today\u2019s party politics has an unwritten rule \u2013 if you win a seat, it\u2019s yours for life. No one serious in your party will challenge you. That is a culture that we have to break,” Hogg, 25, wrote<\/a> on his political website, Leaders We Deserve.<\/p>\n The oldest member of Congress \u2013 Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, at 91 \u2013 is the rare example of a lawmaker who has not been in the retirement discussion due to the “Biden effect” or any other phenomenon.<\/p>\n On the left, the same appeared to be true for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who \u2013 though older than Biden \u2013 was contrasted with him<\/a> on an energy and cognitive level throughout the campaign season.<\/p>\n Sanders has signaled he may seek to serve a fourth term in 2030, when he will be 89, according to the Burlington Free Press. “Friends of Bernie Sanders” has already been listed on a Federal Election Commission filing<\/a> for the 2030 sweeps.<\/p>\n McConnell, the former Republican leader, has stepped aside from leadership and was replaced by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., nearly 20 years younger.<\/p>\n During a 2024 press availability, McConnell appeared to freeze up while speaking, though staffers later suggested he was fine. He has also announced his retirement after 40 years in the Senate.<\/p>\n Rep. Andy Barr, 51, and former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, 39, jumped into the fray to succeed the octogenarian Republican.<\/p>\n Of the oldest sitting senators not yet mentioned, Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, will be 82 by his 2026 potential re-election bid. Fox News Digital reached out for comment from the Gem State senator.<\/p>\n On the flip side, even some of the youngest Senate Democrats are seeing their re-election prospects heavily challenged.<\/p>\n Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is facing potential Republican challengers in what is now a swing state.\u00a0<\/p>\n While none have declared their candidacy, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene \u2013 who would have the stated backing of President Donald Trump<\/a> \u2013 as well as Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter and Gov. Brian Kemp are all said to be formidable potential rivals, according to several reports.<\/p>\n Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Biden for comment on the moniker “the Biden effect.”<\/p>\n Fox News\u2019 Paul Steinhauser and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The so-called “Biden effect” appears to be a factor in congressional longevity after Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin announced he would not seek re-election after nearly four decades in Congress. In 2024, President Joe Biden was politically pushed out after a disastrous debate performance against President Donald Trump in favor of his decades-younger deputy, Kamala … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}