A flood of lawmakers eyeing off-ramps from Washington are launching bids for governor — a record-setting exodus of congressional incumbents vying to be their states’ next chief executive.
Senators and representatives alike have long looked to state elections to trade their congressional seats for a ticket back home. But the rate at which members of Congress are sidestepping reelection this cycle to vie for the governor’s mansion has peaked — marking the most sitting lawmakers to run for governor in well over a decade, according to a POLITICO analysis of election data.
“It’s my intense, intense frustration with how Congress works today, where I don’t believe we tell the truth about the math,” Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), who is running for governor, said of his bid for higher office. “And our unwillingness to tell that truth makes it impossible to do the policy that is actually required.”
Of the 12 active candidates who won’t be seeking reelection to pursue bids for governor, 11 are Republicans, adding to a growing tally of GOP lawmakers who won’t be defending their party’s majority in the midterms. But to the governor hopefuls, pushing their agenda to the finish line is the priority — and some argue Congress is no longer a successful vehicle for delivering results.
“Congress is the way the founders made it — it’s supposed to go slow,” said Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), who is running for his state’s open governorship. “And it does. This is an opportunity to be able to do the most good for the people in the state of Wisconsin.”
The rush toward governor races comes at a tumultuous time for a Congress overrun with high turnover — more than a tenth of Congress has already indicated they won’t run for reelection this year.
The constellation of gubernatorial bids have continued to expand throughout the cycle — almost entirely from Republicans — with GOP Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona making the first congressional entrance into a 2026 gubernatorial election in January of last year. Handfuls of other House lawmakers have followed suit since then in a variety of states, from GOP Rep. Byron Donalds in Florida to Republican Rep. Nancy Mace in South Carolina.
In addition to the 12 active candidates running in 2026, several other House members were competitors in the off-year 2025 gubernatorial contests. Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, opted to not seek reelection in 2024 to her House seat to focus on her ultimately successful campaign. And New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill defeated fellow Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer in her state’s primary before winning the governorship, resigning from her seat in November.
Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) are also vying for the governors’ mansions in their states in 2026, but would only resign from their congressional seats if elected, as their terms aren’t up until 2028 and 2030, respectively.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) had also been pursuing the governorship in New York but dropped her bid on Dec. 19, adding she also wouldn’t seek reelection in the House to instead focus on her family.
Becoming governor is a more prominent perch that can also be a stepping stone to higher office, according to Republican strategist Jesse Hunt, giving aspirational lawmakers more opportunities to position themselves for an even higher post.
It’s a promotion countless governors have sought after for decades — from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign in 2024 to George W. Bush’s leap from Texas governor to the White House in 2001, the most recent governor to be elected president.
“States are the laboratories of democracy,” Hunt, a former senior aide at the Republican Governors Association, said. “It’s why a lot of times in past decades, over the last 100 years or so, governors have had a lot of success running for president, because you have a lot of the same dynamics at play once you get to the federal level that you experience at the gubernatorial level.”
The governor’s seat could also entice lawmakers who’ve soured on being just one voice within a body of 100 or 435, Hunt said — an appeal that’s likely even more attractive on the heels of a legislative session mired by a record-setting shutdown starkly defined along party lines.
“You’re essentially the president of your state,” he said of governors. “And there’s an ability to feel like you’re having a meaningful impact in changing peoples’ lives for the better if you’re able to accomplish your agenda.”
But Washington still has its benefits. Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper, a former two-term governor of Colorado before serving in the upper chamber, said shattering the gridlock and partisanship in Congress to achieve a legislative win is the sweetest part of the job — and the reason why he’s stuck around.
“That sense of frustration — I get it,” he said. “I feel it. It’s a more difficult, more exhausting and frustrating job than I’ve ever had. Not everybody, but a lot of people that stay here feel it’s the most important work you’ll ever have, and that it justifies that frustration. When you do get something — the right bill, the bipartisanship — it’s as good as anything you’ll feel when you’re governor.”
Hickenlooper argued a seat in Congress has brought him closer to issues he says state executives don’t get a hand in — from climate change policy to AI regulations. But he said a congressional post can often be a thankless job and was “the hardest work” he’s ever done.
“As governor, you get rewards every day,” he said.
“There’s not many here in Congress,” he added. “But it’s the most important work I’ve ever done in my life.”
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