Patrick Leahy, Longest-Serving U.S. Senator, Won’t Seek Re-Election
- First elected to Senate in 1974, Democrat to ‘pass the torch’
- Seat seen as solidly Democratic, but GOP may have opportunity
Senator Pat Leahy
Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Vermont Democrat Pat Leahy, the longest-serving member in the U.S. Senate and chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, announced Monday he’ll retire rather than seek a ninth term in 2022.
“It’s time to put down the gavel. It’s time to pass the torch to the next Vermonter who will carry on this work for our great state,” Leahy, 81, said in an announcement in the state capital of Montpelier. “It’s time to come home.”