Rep. Tom Graves of Georgia announced on Thursday that he won’t seek another term in 2020, swelling the ranks of Republicans who have decided to give up their House seats after next year.
The 49-year-old congressman, first elected in 2010, becomes the 21st GOP member of the chamber deciding either retire from public office or seek other posts in 2020.
In a letter to his constituents in the heavily Republican 14th district in Georgia’s northwest corner, Graves said that he was entering a “new season in life” and would be spending time with his wife, who is set to retire soon, and his three adult children.
“Representing the community I hold so dear is an honor that won’t be replicated,” he wrote.
Graves, who won re-election in 2018 with more than 76% of the vote, serves as a senior member of the powerful Appropriations Committee, as well as on a bipartisan committee on the “Modernization of Congress,” formed earlier this year with the aim of improving the way Congress operates.
Republican House members who previously announced that they won’t be on the ballot in 2020 Pete King of New York, who first won his seat in 1992, and Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, who was first elected in 1978.
Nine Democrats so far are slated to leave the House after 2020, either because of retirement or a quest for another office. These include Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who is running for president.