Hi, this is Holly Robichaud with Breaking News on Term Limits, and we’ve passed in North Carolina. We got it done. North Carolina joins the growing number of states passing resolutions calling for congressional term limits. Way to go, North Carolina. Can you believe that some long-term incumbents are already announcing that they’re going to seek reelection in 2026? It’s not even 2025 yet. Hi, I’m Holly Robichaud and this is Breaking News on Term Limits.
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 1991-1997. Prior to serving in Congress, he was a member of the Rhode Island State Senate from 1985 and 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. 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.
What allows incumbents to be so sure of their re-election bids? Well, the simple reason is that incumbents have war chest connections and name recognition. The reality is that defeating an incumbent is not impossible, but incredibly difficult. Ballotpedia reports that congressional incumbents were re-elected at a 98% clip this year. That’s the same rate as in 2022 and slightly higher than the 96% rate in 2020. In 41 states, all congressional incumbents who sought another term were re-elected. 25 congressional members were re-elected without any opposition. Despite the re-election statistics, there is some very good news. When Congress meets in January, there will be a record number of over 150 supporters of term limits from both political parties in office. It’s also important to note that the United States House will be led by Representative Mike Johnson. He’ll be the next speaker and he has supported term limits since he was first elected. Additionally, Vice President JD Vance signed the US Term Limits Pledge when he ran for the Senate in 2022.
More good news coming out of DC Assuming that the reports of the individuals who have been chosen for President Donald Trump’s next cabinet remain the same, we are excited that several cabinet members have also signed the US Term Limits Pledge. We’ll keep you posted. How would you like to claim expenses from your employer and not have to show any documentation? Well, members of Congress can. In the new rules that came into effect last year, members of the Congress can claim a lot of expenses without any receipts. In fact, they claimed over $5 million. The average member claimed over $16,000 in expenses. However, the member who claimed the most was Representative Jack Bergman of Michigan who claimed $32,000 for accommodations and another $12,000 for meals. What a deal.
Did you know in 1981 in Tennessee’s Coffee County that they adopted a resolution establishing two terms or eight-year limit on non-commissioned held boards. These include citizen volunteers on Coffee County Planning Commission, Ambulance Authority, and the Board of Zoning Appeals. The only thing is that the county never enforced it. Coffee County Mayor Dennis Hunt brought this resolution to light this November. The council now needs to move to enforce it. Additionally, the news reports that Hunt said that he intends to present the resolution to the legislative committee for confirmation.
Now it’s time for an update on our story about the trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Until Madigan’s unmasking of his extensive corruption, he was the nation’s longest serving State House Speaker. He was often pointed to as an example as wide term limits was a bad idea. Well, the jurors have now heard testimony in tapes from former Chicago Alderman Danny Solis. The Chicago Sun Times states that he taped conversations with Madigan as part of a plea deal. Solis had a recording where he used the term quid pro quo with Madigan when describing an apartment developer using Madigan’s law firm in return for Madigan using his influence and power to help the developer.
Madigan is heard on the tape telling Solis, “You shouldn’t be talking like that. You are just recommending,” Madigan told Solis, because if they don’t get a good result on their real estate taxes, the whole project could be in trouble. And yet, despite the mounting evidence, Madigan has pleaded not guilty in this major corruption trial. Now, it’s time for the corrupt politician of the week, and this week, it’s incoming Utah Senator John Curtis. Prior to his election to the US Senate, this year, Curtis was a member of the House of Representatives since 2017. He was also a mayor in Utah from 2010 until his election to the House. In the United States House, he was cited by the New York Times for buying shares of the oil refinery Valor Energy and selling the shares of Applied Materials, which makes supplies for solar panels. He did this all while serving on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee for Environment and Climate Change. In total, he had 73 transactions with companies like this while serving on this committee.
The Salt Lake Tribune states that Curtis not only made transactions with Abbott Laboratories during COVID, on the very day the company was awarded a federal grant, but he also bought the company three weeks later. It should come as no surprise that in 2018 he was regarded as the wealthiest member of Utah’s federal delegation with a net worth between seven to fifteen million dollars. As of 2024 this number has potentially doubled. With over 150 term limits pledge signers being sworn in in January, term limits is on the move. We’ve got the momentum, we’ve got the support, but we can’t do it without you. Please go to termlimits.org and get involved today and be sure to share this program with your friends and family. This is Holly Robichaud for US Term Limits Breaking News. I’ll see you soon.