Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) will not run for reelection in 2024, making him the latest lawmaker on Thursday to announce campaign plans for the next cycle.
Wenstrup said in a video on Thursday that he will retire from Congress, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. He was elected to the House in 2012 and serves Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District.
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“I work in a place where a lot of people want to be somebody, but a surgeon mentor of mine once said, ‘You don’t have to be somebody somewhere else as long as you’re somebody at home,’” Wenstrup said. “Sadly, all too often, the frantic pace of Washington has kept me away from our home. I’m ready to change that.”
Wenstrup has been in headlines recently for his role as chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which is leading an inquiry into COVID-19’s origins and the response from the federal government. The committee recently subpoenaed acting National Institutes of Health Director Lawrence Tabak as part of its investigation into David Morens, a top aide to Dr. Anthony Fauci, former head of the National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The Ohio congressman is the latest lawmaker to announce they will not run again in 2024. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said on Thursday he will not seek reelection, ending months of speculation about the Senate’s leading swing vote. The West Virginia senator has been viewed as the most vulnerable incumbent heading into 2024, with some speculating that he would run for reelection, launch a presidential bid, or retire altogether.
Manchin said he would continue his fight to unite the divided political wings, traveling around the country to create a “movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”
Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA), who has served as Washington’s 6th District representative for 10 years, also announced on Thursday that he will not run for reelection next November. Like Wenstrup, Kilmer tied his decision to the job pulling him away from his loved ones.
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“As nourishing as this job has been, it has come with profound costs to my family,” Kilmer wrote in a statement. “Every theatrical performance and musical recital I missed. Every family dinner that I wasn’t there for. The distance I felt from my family for months after the events of January 6th.”
Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Kay Granger (R-TX), and Ken Buck (R-CO) also all announced over the last week that they won’t seek reelection.
