Democratic Representative Ron Kind, a congressman occupying a House swing seat in a district Trump secured twice, is expected to announce his retirement Tuesday. His departure poses another obstacle for Democrats strategizing to maintain their slim majority in the chamber in the upcoming 2020 midterm elections.
Kind will not seek re-election in 2020, sources with knowledge of his decision told Politico. Wisconsin’s rural third congressional district has proven a political battleground in recent years. While the incumbent representative was victorious against GOP outsider candidate Derrick Van Orden there in 2020, edging ahead by just 3 percentage points, this was a significant drop from his nearly 20 point winning margin in 2018. Van Orden, a former Navy Seal who left his small hobby farm to join the political arena, earned Trump’s endorsement in 2020.
With the area’s evolving political trajectory and Van Orden re-entering the race for the 2022 cycle, Kind understood the competitive terrain he’d be confronting, Democrats associated with him told Politico. As for fundraising, Van Orden had already surpassed his old opponent’s levels last quarter, collecting $750,000.
Given the Republican party’s strong financial and redistricting positioning for the mid-term elections, Kind’s vacancy presents another challenge for Democrats scrambling to keep their power monopoly in Congress. History is not on the Democrats’ side, given that the president’s party usually loses seats in the midterms. Republicans only need a net gain of five House seats to flip the chamber in 2022. Trump carried Kind’s district in 2016 and by an even greater margin 2020, indicating that the open seat could be the GOP’s for the taking.
In July, both the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and the National Democratic Congressional Committee disclosed fundraising numbers showing the former beating the latter in the second quarter by almost ten million dollars. While the Republican party will control the redistricting of 43 percent of House seats, the Democratic party will control the redistricting of 17 percent of seats.
A more moderate Democrat, Kind never shied from criticizing Old Guard leaders such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn. Six Democrats in mostly swing districts so far have announced they will exit the House in 2022, including Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick, Cheri Bustos, and Conor Lamb, as well as Tim Ryan, Charlie Crist, and Val Demings, who are pursuing bids for higher office.
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