Rep. Jim Clyburn, 85, has announced he will seek an 18th term in Congress despite many of his colleagues around his age calling it quits.
The powerful House Democrat shared that he would run again at an event on Thursday in Columbia, South Carolina.
Clyburn has represented the state’s 6th congressional district since 1993, before rising through the ranks to serve as the number three Democrat in the House behind former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
But while Pelosi, 85, and Hoyer, 86, will both retire from Congress after their current terms, Clyburn said he would mount a reelection campaign and argued he is still capable of serving.
“I am here today to say I do believe that I am very well equipped and healthy enough to move into the next term,” Clyburn told supporters. “I will run a very vigorous campaign.”
There were questions over whether Clyburn, who played a pivotal role in helping President Joe Biden get elected in 2020 and then backed him when he tried to run again in 2024, would follow his fellow longtime Democratic House members into retirement amid calls for generational change in Washington.
Clyburn announced in 2024 that he would step down from his Democratic Party leadership position while still mounting his last reelection bid to make room for a new generation of Democratic House leaders.
But Clyburn insisted on Thursday that his health has been “good” and even noted last week he played 18 holes of golf. If he wins his reelection race in the blue district, he will be 88 at the end of his next term.
“I know that in a few months I’m going to celebrate the 47th anniversary of my 39th birthday,” he joked during his announcement. “It adds up to 86 years, but if I were not up to it, I would not do it.”
The longtime lawmaker said he spoke with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday morning, and the minority leader, who could become speaker if Democrats flip the House in November, was among those who asked him to stay.
Clyburn said an 18th term very well could be his last, but he also did not rule out running again in two years.
But the South Carolina Democrat is already one of the oldest members of Congress, and one of 24 members over the age of 80. The oldest being Sen. Chuck Grassley at 92. Despite their advanced ages, more than half of the lawmakers over 80 have decided to run again.
Last year, three Democratic House members died in Congress, all over the age of 70, sparking another round of criticism that lawmakers were holding on to office too long as the party came just a few votes shy of blocking GOP legislation and President Donald Trump’s agenda.
