A record number of Republicans are leaving the House | CNN Politics

The number of Republicans leaving the US House of Representatives after this term has reached a historic high, deepening concern in the conference over the chamber’s already razor-thin margins. Thirty-five House Republicans are now retiring or running for higher office. That’s the most since at least 1930, according to data from the Brookings Institution, and surpasses the previous record from 2018, a midterm cycle when Republicans lost a whopping 41 House seats. (Members who lost renomination, like Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw, are not included in these numbers.) Oklahoma Republican Rep. Kevin Hern became the 35th member of the GOP conference to announce his departure Wednesday, saying he would run for the US Senate. Hern is hoping to fill Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s seat for a full term, should he be confirmed as homeland security secretary. A former businessman, Hern was first elected to the House in 2018 and is the first to jump into the race since Mullin was nominated. “The American dream is under threat by the radical left and RINO Republicans who oppose President Trump’s America First agenda and want to turn the United States into a third world country,” Hern s