A record number of senators are ready to flee Capitol Hill and run for governor in the 2026 election cycle, the most since 1797.
The trend of senators transitioning to governors is due to frustration with Congress’s ineffectiveness, according to Patricia Crouse, a practitioner in residence of public administration and political science at the University of New Haven.
“Congress has been relatively ineffective for many years, under both Democratic and Republican Presidents,” Crouse said. “I think for some of these people, sort of the expectation of what it was going to be like to be in Congress and the reality of what it’s like to be in Congress were very different.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) speaks during an event, May 27, 2025, in Auburn, Alabama.
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