This is a list of House seats in which the 2008 winner is not going to be running in 2012.
Some are open seats and some were filled by special elections.
Open seats like these tend to be especially competitive unless the PVI (Charlie Cook's Partisan Voting Index)
is very skewed one way or another, say D+10 or higher or R+10 or higher.
All the district names are hyperlinked, either to a story about the race (if competitive)
or a map of the district (if not).
The colors represent the party that won in 2008.
CA-33 |
Diane Watson |
Dem |
D+35 |
Yes |
Could easily be reelected but at 76 she's had enough |
FL-17 |
Kendrick Meek |
Dem |
D+34 |
Yes |
Running for Mel Martinez' open Senate seat |
MI-13 |
Carolyn Kilpatrick |
Dem |
D+31 |
Yes |
Kilpatrick was defeated in the primary |
CA-32 |
Hilda Solis |
Dem |
D+29 |
No |
Resigned to become Sec. of Labor |
IL-05 |
Rahm Emanuel |
Dem |
D+19 |
No |
Resigned to become WH Chief of Staff |
AL-07 |
Artur Davis |
Dem |
D+18 |
Yes |
Ran for governor |
FL-19 |
Robert Wexler |
Dem |
D+15 |
No |
Joined a nonprofit organization in January 2012 |
RI-01 |
Patrick Kennedy |
Dem |
D+13 |
Yes |
Wants to do something else with his life |
HI-01 |
Neil Abercrombie |
Dem |
D+11 |
Yes |
Running for governor |
CA-10 |
Ellen Tauscher |
Dem |
D+11 |
No |
Appointed Undersecretary of State |
DE-AL |
Mike Castle |
GOP |
D+7 |
Yes |
Running for the Senate |
IL-10 |
Mark Kirk |
GOP |
D+6 |
Yes |
Running for Roland Burris' open Senate seat |
MA-10 |
William Delahunt |
Dem |
D+5 |
Yes |
Forty years in Congress is enough |
WI-07 |
David Obey |
Dem |
D+3 |
Yes |
No obvious reason |
PA-07 |
Joe Sestak |
Dem |
D+3 |
Yes |
Running for senator |
NH-02 |
Paul Hodes |
Dem |
D+0 |
Yes |
Running for Judd Gregg's open Senate seat |
WA-03 |
Brian Baird |
Dem |
D+0 |
Yes |
Apparently just bored; he's young and popular |
NY-23 |
John McHugh |
Dem |
R+1 |
No |
Appointed Secretary of the Army |
PA-12 |
John Murtha |
Dem |
R+1 |
No |
Murtha died; there will be a special election this Spring |
NY-20 |
Kirsten Gillibrand |
Dem |
R+2 |
No |
Appointed to Hillary Clinton's Senate seat |
KS-03 |
Dennis Moore |
Dem |
R+3 |
Yes |
No apparent reason; he wasn't even a big target |
MI-01 |
Bart Stupak |
Dem |
R+3 |
Yes |
Everyone beat on him during HCR |
NY-29 |
Eric Massa |
Dem |
R+5 |
Yes |
Recurrence of his earlier cancer |
FL-21 |
Lincoln Diaz-Balart |
GOP |
R+5 |
Yes |
No reason given |
AR-02 |
Vic Snyder |
Dem |
R+5 |
Yes |
Polls looked bad and he has four young children |
FL-25 |
Mario Diaz-Balart |
GOP |
R+5 |
Yes |
Running for his brother's open seat in FL-21 |
TN-08 |
John Tanner |
Dem |
R+6 |
Yes |
At 65, he's had enough of politics |
MI-03 |
Vern Ehlers |
GOP |
R+6 |
Yes |
At 76 he didn't want to deal with a primary challenge |
FL-12 |
Adam Putnam |
GOP |
R+6 |
Yes |
Running for Agriculture Commissioner |
IN-08 |
Brad Ellsworth |
Dem |
R+8 |
Yes |
Running for Evan Bayh's open Senate seat |
AR-01 |
Marion Berry |
Dem |
R+8 |
Yes |
Probably afraid he might lose |
AZ-03 |
John Shadegg |
GOP |
R+9 |
Yes |
After 8 terms, he wants to move on |
WV-01 |
Alan Mollohan |
Dem |
R+9 |
Yes |
Mollohan was defeated in the primary |
CA-19 |
George Radanovich |
GOP |
R+9 |
Yes |
His wife has ovarian cancer |
FL-05 |
Ginny Brown-Waite |
GOP |
R+9 |
Yes |
She has serious health problems |
MI-02 |
Peter Hoekstra |
GOP |
R+9 |
Yes |
Ran for governor |
SC-01 |
Henry Brown |
GOP |
R+10 |
Yes |
He's 74 and tired of being in the minority |
LA-03 |
Charlie Melancon |
Dem |
R+12 |
Yes |
Running for the Senate against Vitter |
AL-05 |
Parker Griffith |
GOP |
R+12 |
Yes |
Was defeated in the primary |
TN-06 |
Bart Gordon |
Dem |
R+13 |
Yes |
At a young 60, he had decided he's had enough |
OK-05 |
Mary Fallin |
GOP |
R+13 |
Yes |
Running for governor |
TN-03 |
Zach Wamp |
GOP |
R+13 |
Yes |
Ran for governor |
IN-03 |
Mark Souder |
GOP |
R+14 |
Yes |
He had an affair with a staffer |
IN-04 |
Steve Buyer |
GOP |
R+14 |
Yes |
His wife has an incurable autoimmune disease |
KS-04 |
Todd Tiahrt |
GOP |
R+14 |
Yes |
Running for Sam Brownback's open Senate seat |
SC-04 |
Bob Inglis |
GOP |
R+12 |
Yes |
Inglis was defeated in the primary |
GA-07 |
John Linder |
GOP |
R+16 |
Yes |
At 67 he may just have had enough |
SC-03 |
Greshman Barrett |
GOP |
R+17 |
Yes |
Ran for governor |
AR-03 |
John Boozman |
GOP |
R+16 |
Yes |
Running for the Senate |
MO-07 |
Roy Blunt |
GOP |
R+17 |
Yes |
Running for the Kit Bond's open Senate seat |
KS-01 |
Jerry Moran |
GOP |
R+23 |
Yes |
Running for Sam Brownback's open Senate seat |
GA-09 |
Nathan Deal |
GOP |
R+28 |
Yes |
Running for governor |