Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate, will not run for reelection in 2022.
During a press conference on Monday, Leah, 81, said, “While I will continue to serve Vermont, Marcelle and I have reached the conclusion that it’s time to put down the gavel.”
“It is time to pass the torch to the next Vermonter who will carry on this work for our great state. It is time to come home,” he added.
Watch the video below:
“It’s time to come home.”
— The Recount (@therecount) November 15, 2021
— Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate, announces he won’t run for reelection in 2022. pic.twitter.com/rD8fK52l6f
Leahy was first elected in 1974 at the age of 34 and was the first Democrat to represent Vermont in the Senate. He is also the only registered Democrat to represent the state in the upper chamber.
In a statement, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said, “Vermont is a blue state that has not elected a Republican to statewide federal office in more than 20 years, and Democrats look forward to winning this Senate seat in 2022.”
Axios notes he is the “current president pro tempore of the Senate, putting him third in the line of presidential succession, after Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”
Additionally, he is the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the most senior member of the agriculture and judiciary committees.
The New York Times reports, “Mr. Leahy recently became the fourth longest-serving senator in American history, according to Senate records, and finishing his term at the end of 2022 will make him the third longest-serving.”
