Which specific House Republicans announced retirement or resigned in 2025–2026, and what offices are they seeking?
Executive summary
A sizable wave of House Republican departures in 2025–2026 includes high-profile resignations and many members who announced they will not seek reelection and, in some cases, are running for other offices; definitive public reporting names a handful of specific Republicans and links them to particular next steps, while broader trackers show dozens more exits with many running for governor or the Senate [1] [2]. Reporting is clear about aggregate totals and patterns, but public sources compiled to date do not provide a single authoritative list tying every departing Republican to the exact office they are seeking [2] [3].
1. Who resigned outright: the high‑profile, immediate exits
The most explicit, early departure reported was Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R‑Ga.), who announced she would resign from Congress effective Jan. 5, 2026 after a series of public disputes with President Trump and others; multiple outlets reported the resignation as an actual early departure rather than a simple retirement announcement [4] [5]. Ballotpedia and other trackers likewise categorized a small group of members as having left office early or announced resignations during the 2025–2026 cycle, noting four Republicans among early leavers, though those data tables do not list every name in the narrative summaries [6].
2. Named Republicans retiring from the House without a clear next-office announcement
Some Republicans publicly said they would not run again but did not immediately name another office; for example, longtime GOP members such as Rep. Michael McCaul were reported as not seeking reelection as of mid‑September 2025 in aggregate trackers [7]. National trackers — Ballotpedia, AP’s retirement tracker and other outlets — list dozens of House retirements and classify many members simply as “not running” even when follow‑on plans remain unreported [3] [8].
3. Republicans explicitly running for other offices: what’s confirmed
Compilations of retirements show a large subset of departing House members are seeking other offices: Wikipedia’s 2026 election page reports that, as of February 2026, 27 members (8 Democrats and 19 Republicans) who announced retirement are doing so to run for another office, and broader trackers confirm many are aiming for governorships or the Senate [2]. At the state level, reporting identified Texas Rep. Chip Roy as seeking to be his state’s attorney general, a named example of a House Republican moving toward a statewide office [9]. Ballotpedia and other trackers also recorded the case of Rep. Elise Stefanik, who had pursued a New York governor’s campaign and then announced she will leave Congress after dropping out of that race — a trajectory that outlets described as her exiting the House in conjunction with that gubernatorial effort [3] [7].
4. The broader pattern: governors, senators and “other offices” as the magnets
News organizations and retirement trackers agree the most common next moves for departing House Republicans in this cycle were statewide offices and Senate bids: outlets counted roughly a dozen-plus members pursuing governorships and about a similar number seeking Senate seats, and one Republican reported as running for state attorney general [9] [2]. Newsweek and other summaries emphasized the GOP’s outsized share of retirements — dozens of Republicans left or announced they wouldn’t run again, with some resignations (including Greene’s) and many more shifts into other races — but those pieces tend to focus on totals and political implications rather than enumerating every individual and their target office [1].
5. Limits of available public reporting and why names vs. destinations remain incomplete
Comprehensive, name-by-name public confirmation tying every departing House Republican to the exact office they intend to pursue is not available in a single source cited here; the available sources reliably report aggregate counts and highlight notable individual cases (Greene, Stefanik, Chip Roy, McCaul) but many other departures are recorded only as retirements or “running for other office” without an immediately disclosed destination in the cited reporting [2] [6] [7]. For readers seeking a complete, up‑to‑the‑minute roster of each Republican’s stated next step, the combined trackers (Ballotpedia, AP retirement tracker, Newsweek and state reporting) are the most authoritative continuing resources referenced here [3] [8] [1].