The Republican Party didn’t want to begin the new year this way — with a spate of retirements in the evenly divided Senate ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. On Monday, Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt became the fifth Republican senator since January to announce he won’t seek another term. That’s giving Democrats hope that they can retain their razor-thin Senate majority for the second half of President Joe Biden’s term. Still, history suggests that a new president’s opposition party will do well in midterm elections, helping position the GOP to reclaim at least one chamber of Congress next year.
‘Bad news’: Wave of GOP retirements signals battles ahead
