U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Okla.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Oct. 26, 2020.
Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said Monday (Jan. 25) that partisan gridlock and political polarization in Congress have led him to decide not to seek re-election in the 2022 midterm elections.
“I feel fortunate to have been entrusted by the people of Ohio to represent them in the U.S. Senate. Today, I am announcing that I have made the decision not to run for re-election in 2022.” In a statement, Portman wrote, “I don’t think there is any Senate [member’s] office that could be more successful right now, and frankly, it is increasingly difficult to break through partisan gridlock and make progress on substantive policy, which is why I have made this decision.”
Portman noted that the United States has become “increasingly polarized, with members of both parties being pushed further to the right and further to the left, which means there are too few people actively looking for common ground. …… Of course, this is not a new phenomenon, but a problem that has become more acute over the past few decades. But these are difficult times to be engaged in public service.”
“For many of the issues I am most passionate about, I will continue to make a difference outside the Senate beyond 2022. In the meantime, I hope President Biden will follow through on his inaugural pledge to engage with both parties, and if he does, I’m prepared to work with him and his administration.”
Portman added, “I participated in a bipartisan conference call yesterday on the new COVID-19 (Chinese Communist Virus, Wuhan pneumonia) program. I hope the administration will work with us to take a more targeted approach that focuses on issues such as vaccine distribution, testing and getting kids back into school.”
Portman, 65, served as a trade representative and budget director for former President George W. Bush Jr. and was re-elected to seven terms in the House and two terms in the Senate.
Portman said he will join Senators Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Richard Burr (N.C.) in retiring from challenging the 2022 election for re-election to key swing states. Currently, Republicans and Democrats are in a 50:50 tie in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris (D-CA) holding the tie-breaking vote that gives the Democrats a slim majority.
However, Ohio has trended gradually toward Republicans in recent years, with all of the state’s Senate seats taken by Republicans except for Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, who won re-election in 2018.
Portman has come under fire from conservatives for his convoluted relationship with former President Trump (R-Texas). He had endorsed Trump in 2016, but withdrew his endorsement the same year after recordings surfaced of Trump talking roughly with Billy Bush, nephew of former President George H.W. Bush Sr. in 2005.
Portman did not say in his statement Monday whether he was for or against impeaching Trump. In the statement, he said, “As a juror, I’m going to hear both sides. That’s my job.”
Earlier, some Republican senators were in denial about the impeachment trial and said it made no sense to impeach a president who had already left office.
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