Long-time Democrat Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) will announce his retirement from Congress and has informed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) of his decision, according to sources on Capitol Hill.
Butterfield’s office did not confirm the congressman would be retiring. However, the office told Spectrum News 1, “The official announcement will be made later today or tomorrow.”
While serving his tenth term in Congress, Butterfield has voted with the speaker 100 percent of the time in the current 117th Congress, not turning away from helping Pelosi pass partisan agenda ideas such as the infrastructure package.
The congressman’s retirement leaves his seat open for a brutal Democrat primary for new candidates vying for his seat.
However, Republicans — who have been trending upwards in multiple generic ballots — are looking to flip his seat red in the midterms. Recently, numerous polls have shown Republicans beating Democrats in a generic ballot leading up to the midterms, as Democrats try to pass partisan agenda items.
Earlier this month, the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC), the House Republican campaign arm, announced they added Butterfield to their list of seats they were hoping to pick off during the election. After sources said Butterfield would retire, NRCC Communications Director Michael McAdams said, “Democrats have two choices: retire or lose. The smart ones are retiring.”
Butterfield’s announcement makes him the second congressional Democrat from North Carolina to announce his retirement. Rep. David Price (D-NC), another loyal confidant to Pelosi, announced his retirement last month. Price, who has been in office since 1987, besides for two years, said, “It’s not an easy decision but one I feel confident in … I’m very grateful for the people who have made this period of service possible.”
Breitbart News has extensively reported on Pelosi’s majority crumbling in the past, keeping track of the Democrats’ struggle to find new candidates, with numerous members — such as Butterfield and Price — that are announcing they will leave the House in the midterms. The midterms are quickly approaching.
Democrats are also facing tough redistricting battles in some states, which has partly made Butterfield’s future uncertain. Spectrum News 1 reported, North Carolina’s “Republican-led General Assembly approved maps that changed the congressman’s political map, taking Democratic-leaning Greenville out of his district.”
More so, Politico also outlined in September that the House Democrats have spent their last two elections (2018 and 2020) bragging about unseating members in red districts that became competitive instead of preparing for the future. “Now, Republicans are about to make many of those targets disappear from the battlefield entirely,” Politico said.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.