The GOP needs to figure out a plan. The upcoming midterms are crucial for their success.
And this congressman made a reelection announcement that’s sending Republicans into a frenzy.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn declared Thursday he will chase an 18th term in the House of Representatives, putting himself in line to play kingmaker among Democrats if they claw back control of the chamber this November.
At 85 years old, Clyburn ranks among the most veteran Democrats still haunting the halls of Washington.
He now stands as the lone holdover from the last Democratic leadership crew who refuses to walk away.
Nancy Pelosi of California and Steny Hoyer of Maryland have both chosen to exit stage left when their current terms wrap up.
Staying put could let Clyburn rub shoulders with the first Black speaker of the House, since Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York sits ready to seize the gavel if Democrats flip the majority.
For years on end, Clyburn claimed the top rung among Black lawmakers in the lower chamber.
Several years ago, when he first floated his run for a 16th term, he laid out his exit plan to The Associated Press, insisting he would only keep campaigning while his health stayed solid and his family stayed loyal.
“I’ve told them, if you ever see that I need to go to the rocking chair or spend my spare time on the golf course, let me know,” he stated.
“And so far, they’re telling me, from what they feel and hear, I should keep going.”
Clyburn sailed through his 2024 reelection with a comfortable cushion of more than 20 points.
He presides over a sprawling district that snakes from neighborhoods around Columbia, the state capital, through sleepy rural counties in the center and east, all the way down to the port city of Charleston.
Pulling off this fresh term would crown Clyburn the longest-serving individual from South Carolina ever dispatched to the U.S. House.
But career politicians like Clyburn keep proving one thing above all: the swamp never drains itself.
Clyburn’s announcement reeks of the same entitlement that keeps real change locked out of the Capitol.
South Carolina deserves leaders who know when to pass the torch instead of clutching it with both hands until the very end.
