Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) announced on Monday that, after serving in the Senate for more than 20 consecutive years, he would not be seeking reelection.
Carper announced his retirement at a press conference, saying that he had decided not to run for reelection following “a lot of prayer, introspection and heart-to-heart discussions” with his spouse, Martha.
“We decided… “We decided…
Carper, when asked if he had considered who he would like to replace him with, said that he supported Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) to take his position.
He said that he had known Lisa ever since she interned in his congressional office. She later worked in Carper’s governor’s office after completing graduate school.
“We love Lisa, and I spoke to her this morning. “You waited patiently for me to move out of your way. I will do so.” And I hope that you’ll run and I hope that you’ll allow me to support you on this mission. She said “Yes, you can support me.”
Rochester, the first Black woman to be elected as a member of Congress for Delaware after being elected in 2016, still hasn’t announced if she plans to run for Senate.
Carper has been in the Senate, at 76 years old, since 2001. He was previously the Delaware governor, a congressman and state treasurer.
Carper was a member of both the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works during his tenure in the Senate. Carper also helped draft key provisions of the Affordable Care act, as well the bipartisan Infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021.
This month, the longtime Delaware Senator was appointed to the National Advisory Board of Biden’s reelection campaign. The group is made up of top surrogates. Carper endorsed Biden’s re-election campaign last month.
Carper, who began his political career in 1990, served as a P-3 aircraft commander in the Naval Reserve for 23 years. He served as a naval flight officers in Southeast Asia and Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Carper made his announcement after Sen. Ben Cardin, D.Md. announced in this month that he will not seek reelection in the 2024 presidential election cycle. This could lead to a crowded primary for a second heavily Democratic state.
Delaware hasn’t seen a Republican in statewide office for the last year, when Tom Wagner, a longtime GOP auditor who held that position since 2008 declined to run again. Mike Castle, a former congressman who represented the state in Congress before leaving office in 2010 after losing his bid for the Senate, was the last Republican in the state.
The Democrats, who have a narrow majority in the Senate face a tough map in order to retain their control in 2024. Democrats must defend 20 seats. This does not include the independents who are part of their caucus. Comparatively, only 10 Republicans face re-election. Senator Kyrsten S. Sinema (I-Ariz.) has not yet announced whether she will run for reelection.
Carper and Cardin are not the only Democratic Senators to announce their retirement. Dianne Feigstein of California, and Debbie Stabenow from Michigan announced that they will not be running for reelection in the next election.
