Philip Blumel: Ninety-seven percent of congressional incumbents won re-election in 2024. Hi, I’m Philip Blumel. Welcome to No Uncertain Terms, the official podcast of the Term Limits Movement. This is episode Number 253, published on December 16th, 2024.
Stacey Selleck: Your sanctuary from partisan politics.
Philip Blumel: There has been a lot of punditry about the results of the November 5th national elections, focusing mostly on the red versus the blue. This has inspired lively and interesting debate about our national mood and our prospects. But here at US Term Limits, we’re even more focused on the competition between, not the red and blue, but the incumbent versus the challenger. And here, the results are a snore, [chuckle] as congressional incumbents running for their own seats won 97% of the time in 2024. We’re talking about the US House and Senate. Ninety-seven percent. We’re reminded by the indispensable website, Ballotpedia, that the incumbent re-election rate in 2022 was 96%. In fact, Ballotpedia also points out that in 41 states, all congressional incumbents who sought another term were re-elected.
Philip Blumel: In other words, all the action, everything that was interesting and important and which promised some sort of change, occurred in just a sliver of congressional seats. And so, we’re reminded once again about the need for congressional term limits. We don’t have competitive elections in this country. We don’t have rotation in office. And our power as voters is greatly diminished as a result. Keep in mind that with congressional term limits, every district in America would have an open election, a meaningful election, every six years or twelve years or whatever the term limit would be. That is a system where incumbents can’t just bank on winning if they play the game, and voters will be re-empowered. Politicians will face better incentives and voters will have more meaningful choices.
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Philip Blumel: Senator Mike Braun of Indiana gave his farewell address to the US Senate last week. Senator Braun, a signer of the US Term Limit congressional term limit’s pledge, was elected on November 5th to be the next governor of Indiana. In his address, he shared with his colleagues why he left Congress. As you listen, keep in mind that the Indiana House passed the term limit’s convention resolution in January this year, but failed in the Senate. Momentum is already growing to pass the resolution in the 2025 session.
Mike Braun: It was so hard to get here in the first place. The question I get asked most, “Why wouldn’t you stay?” Well, I kind of explained that a little bit earlier, that I believe in term limits, and it was an either/or choice. Either run for governor or serve another term here. I’m not gonna lose sight of what I’ve been a part of. But I do feel I’ve made the right choice.
Philip Blumel: Next, in our election recap episode Number 251, I was sharing the record results the Term Limits Movement achieved in terms of pledge signers being elected to office at both the state and the federal level. At that time, not all the races were decided. There were lots of late reporting. There were too many, too close to call races, and then, of course, three counts. I think I was bragging about the all-time high, by far, number of state legislative pledge signers that will be seated in state legislators across the country in 2025. “1,240 compared to 932 in 2022,” I said. Compare this to 647 in 2020. Well, with all the races decided, that number has crept up to 1,410.
Philip Blumel: It’s worth sharing the most recent victory as it was a nail biter. In Colorado Springs, that is Colorado State House District 16, a pledge signer named Rebecca Keltie defeated incumbent state representative Stephanie Vigil by three votes, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Remember why these pledges are so important. These aren’t just vague pledges of support. These state legislators are signing a pledge that they will, if elected, co-sponsor, vote for, and defend the specific term limits convention resolution introduced in their state. Nine states have already passed this resolution, including three new ones in 2024. When we hit 34 states, according to Article V of the US Constitution, an amendment writing convention limited to the subject of congressional term limits will be held.
Philip Blumel: Right now, 19% of all state legislators in the country have signed this pledge. And these signers aren’t spread out evenly across the country. Those states where we have an outsized number of signers are on our shortlist for a resolution vote in 2025. Now, I say “shortlist,” but our list of 2025 targets is getting longer and longer. We expect it to be our biggest year ever. More on that in the next episode. 2024 was our best year yet since we launched the Term Limits Convention Project, but 2025 can be even better. And with your help, it will be.
Philip Blumel: Next, we have received word that 83-year-old US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is probably not going to run again after his fourth term expires in 2030. Asked in an interview with Politico whether this would be his last term in Congress, Senator Sanders said, “I’m 83 now, I’ll be 89 when I get out of here. I don’t know, but I assume, probably, yes.” Sanders has served in Congress since 1991, spending 16 years in the House before being elected to the Senate in 2006. However, Senator Sanders is hardly leading a stampede of elder politicians for the exits, even after the Biden campaign debacle this year. Let’s let Holly Robichaud pick up the story from here. As you know, Holly hosts the Breaking News on Term Limits program you can find on YouTube.
Holly Robichaud: While some states are still in the process of finalizing the ballot counts for 2024, United States Senator Susan Collins of Maine, age 71, announced that she would be running for a sixth term. That’s right, a sixth term in the United States Senate. Senator Collins was first elected in 1996 and has served close to three decades in office already. United States Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island has also announced that he will be seeking re-election in 2026. Senator Reed, who is 75 years old, was first elected to the United States Senate in 1996. That’s after serving in the United States Congress from 1991 to 1997. Prior to serving in Congress, he was a member of the Rhode Island State Senate from 1985 until his election to Congress. Collectively, he’s been in office for almost 40 years. Another long-term incumbent seeking re-election? Well, it’s Insider, United States Representative Nancy Pelosi, and former Speaker of the House. She has filed paperwork to seek re-election at the age of 84. She was first elected to the House in 1987. Talk about long-term.
Holly Robichaud: Here’s the whopper of them all. The Hill reports that 91-year-old United States Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has filed paperwork to seek re-election in 2028. He was first elected to the United States Senate in 1980. He was a member of the United States Congress from 1975 until he won election to the Senate. Senator Grassley has been in public office consecutively since the Eisenhower administration when he was elected to the Iowa State House in 1958. The grand total? 65 years in office. Three generations of Americans growing up and changing while he has been in office.
Philip Blumel: Thanks, Holly. Although term limits do address the issue of decrepitude in our institutions, I don’t like picking on our ancient politicians for their age. For one thing, not everyone that is elder is incapable of doing the job. But also, age limitation is really only a byproduct of term limitation. It’s hardly the most compelling reason to adopt term limits. But at the same time, term-limited states have a lower average age amongst their legislators, and they don’t suffer the same age-related problems of non-term limit legislatures or in the non-term limit US Congress.
Philip Blumel: Speaking of the US Congress, have you heard the latest? Two falls by octogenarians Congress members as they struggled to fulfill their official duties. As the Associated Press reported last week, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is still suffering from the effects of a fall in the Senate and is missing votes on Thursday due to leg stiffness. McConnell fell outside a Senate party luncheon last Tuesday and sprained his wrist and cut his face. His office said Thursday he is experiencing stiffness in his leg from the fall and that’s why he’s working from home. Now, the Associated Press continues noting that the fall was the latest in a series of medical incidents from McConnell who is stepping down from his leadership post at the end of the year, although he’s not stepping down from office.
Philip Blumel: He was hospitalized with a concussion in March 2023 and missed several weeks of work after falling down in a hotel. After he returned, he twice froze up during news conferences that summer, staring vacantly ahead while colleagues and staff had to come to his assistance. About the same time, we got reports last week that 84-year-old US Representative Nancy Pelosi of California fell down while she was in Luxembourg to commemorate the 80th anniversary of World War II’s Battle of the Bulge. Representative Pelosi apparently fell down the marble stairs at the Grand Ducal Palace. She had to undergo hip replacement surgery as a result. Now, I wish both Senator McConnell and Representative Pelosi quick recoveries, but I have to add that a system where powerful incumbents are so advantaged that they essentially cannot lose elections, remember, 97% of incumbents were re-elected this year, that these problems are inevitable. As President Harry Truman once wrote, “Term limits on Congress would help to cure senility and seniority, both terrible legislative diseases.”
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Philip Blumel: Thanks for joining us for another episode of No Uncertain Terms. The term limits convention bills are moving through the state legislatures. This could be a breakthrough year for the Term Limits Movement. To check on the status of the term limits convention resolution in your state, go to termlimits.com/takeaction. There, you will see if it has been introduced and where it stands in the committee process on its way to the floor vote. If there’s action to take, you’ll see a “take action” button by your state. Click it. This will give you the opportunity to send a message to the most relevant legislators, urging them to support the legislation. They have to know you’re watching. That’s termlimits.com/takeaction. If your state has already passed the term limits convention resolution, or the bill has not been introduced in your state, you can still help. Please consider making a contribution to US Term Limits. It is our aim to hit the reset button on the US Congress, and you can help. Go to termlimits.com/donate. Termlimits.com/donate. Thanks. We’ll be back next week.
Stacey Selleck: Find us on most social media at US Term Limits. Like us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and now, LinkedIn.
Sound FX: USTL.