Dem
51
GOP
49
Rep. Charles Albert "Dutch" Ruppersberger III (D-MD) got his J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law and initially worked as an assistant state's attorney prosecuting organized crime, drug trafficking, and political corruption. He got into politics in 1985 when he was elected to the Baltimore County Council. He served until 1995, when he took over as Baltimore County Executive. After two terms, he ran for the U.S. House and was elected in 2002, where he has been ever since, rising to be the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. He just announced that at age 77 and after 38 years in elected office, he's had enough and just wants to retire.
His district, MD-02, has a PVI of D+7 and he has been winning elections with 60% or more of the vote for years, so he could continue for another decade if he wanted to, but after nearly four decades in politics, he has had enough. He is still married to his high school sweetheart and has five grandchildren and probably just wants more time to play with them. He has had a good career with no scandals and can be fairly certain that some other Democrat will take his place; it was just time for the next generation. Happy retirement.
He is the 23rd House Democrat to announce a retirement. So far 16 House Republicans have announced their retirements. In 2022, 33 Democrats and 17 Republicans called it quits. It is slightly surprising that so few Republicans are retiring this cycle, although retirement season is still ongoing. The chances of the Republicans being in the minority in January are probably more than 50%, just due to the Biden 17 alone, plus redistricting in Alabama and Louisiana. Republicans will probably pick up 4-5 seats in North Carolina, but that could be canceled out by the New York state legislature regerrymandering their state. (V)