Representative James E. Clyburn, the 85-year-old Democratic power broker from South Carolina, said on Thursday that he planned to seek an 18th term, breaking with other former congressional leaders and aging lawmakers who have announced retirements and testing his party’s desire for generational change at a crossroads moment.
His decision to stay comes at a moment of peak confidence among Democrats that they are well positioned to win back control of the House in November’s midterm elections. And Mr. Clyburn had signaled an interest in witnessing the election of the first Black speaker, a milestone that Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, is on track to reach should Democrats win the majority.
Mr. Clyburn, an old-school Southern politician, served for years as the No. 3 House Democrat and the highest-ranking Black member of Congress. In 2022, alongside former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, her longtime No. 2, he stepped down from that position to make way for a new generation of party leaders.
But unlike his two peers, who have announced they will retire at the end of this term, Mr. Clyburn even then made it clear he wanted to stay on. He ran for a newly created position of assistant Democratic leader, which he held for another two years.
Speaking at the party headquarters in Columbia, S.C., on Thursday, Mr. Clyburn made the announcement sound rather logistical, a natural extension of a life spent in public service.
Mr. Clyburn said he would “sign the paperwork necessary in order to qualify for the Democratic nomination to run again.”
He said that his life dedicated to public service had been driven by a desire to help people and guided by a mantra he had instructed his daughters to put on his tombstone: “He did his darnedest to make America’s greatness accessible and affordable for all its citizens.”
Addressing his age, Mr. Clyburn said, “I do believe I’m very well equipped and healthy enough to move into the next term,” adding that he planned to run a “vigorous” campaign.
Mr. Clyburn had kept his plans under wraps, not informing top Democrats of what his decision would be even as he had begun to speak openly about eventually retiring. He recently told The Washington Post that should he leave Congress, he would want his daughter to succeed him.
For all of his longevity in the House, Mr. Clyburn is perhaps better known as a power player in presidential politics, hosting an annual fish fry that has long been a necessary stop every four years for any Democratic presidential candidate.
He was never shy about taking credit for Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidential victory in 2020. And he prides himself on loyalty. As Ms. Pelosi helped lead the effort in the summer of 2024 to persuade Mr. Biden to drop his re-election bid amid questions about his age and health, Mr. Clyburn proclaimed until the bitter end that he was “ridin’ with Biden” and that the president should not be pressured against his will to leave the race.
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times.
The post James Clyburn to Run for House Again, Defying Push for Generational Change appeared first on New York Times.
