Veteran Rep. Ron Kind — a Wisconsin Democrat who represents a district carried by former President Donald Trump — announced he will not seek reelection in 2022 and will retire at the end of this term after serving more than two decades in Congress.
His retirement is a big blow for House Democrats, as his seat was a top target for the GOP in 2022 and will likely be even tougher to hang on to now. Kind has represented Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District since 1997.
“Truth is I’ve run out of gas,” Kind told reporters Tuesday in his home state, adding that the years of traveling back and forth between Washington, DC, and Wisconsin has taken its toll.
“Representing the people in your home area in the United States Congress has been unquestionably the greatest honor of my life. But I never intended it to be an honor for my entire life,” he said.
He also lamented the growing partisanship in Washington, saying he’s part of a “dying breed in public service today” as someone “who tried to be reasonable, pragmatic, thoughtful, worked hard to try to find common ground with my colleagues, work in a bipartisan way to find bipartisan solutions to the challenges that we face.”
Kind is one of just seven House Democrats who represent a district carried by Trump in 2020 – and the second member from one of those seats to retire. Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos of Illinois was the first.
Last November, Kind defeated GOP candidate Derrick Van Orden by fewer than 3 percentage points. Van Orden plans to run again.
Democratic sources confirmed to CNN on Tuesday, ahead of his official announcement, that Kind was planning to retire. His office did not respond to a request for comment. The retirement news was first reported by a local Wisconsin outlet and Politico.
Appearing alongside his family Tuesday, Kind said he and his wife “now look forward to the next chapter in our life.”