Politicians that have run for lower office

[JMT]

Former Governor Jim McGreevey is running for Jersey City Mayor:

https://twitter.com/jim_mcgreevey/status/1722599683355185336?s=46&t=-r8JGlJn...

[wnwnwn]

You could say being a peruvian congressmember is lower than being the major of Lima.
So, Luis Bedoya (won), Jorge del Castillo (won), Richard Belmont (lose, but then got the seat after Andrade's death) and Alberto Andrade (won) enter the list.
Lima has always like 50% of Peru's GDP and mayors of Lima are usually more popular than congressmembers.

[Minnesota Mike]

John Tyler (10th President) was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives but died before it convened.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

John Tyler (10th President) was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives but died before it convened.

His grandson just turned 95. He's one of the few living people with a grandparent born in the 1700s.

[JMT]

Here are some others:

-David Baria: ran for MS House after serving in MS Senate
-Pete Gallego: ran for TX Senate after serving in Congress
-Mike Michaud: ran for Board of Selectmen after serving in Congress
-Pat Quinn: ran for Attorney General after serving as Governor
-Jean Schmidt: ran for OH House after serving in Congress
-Matt Adamczyk: ran for WI House after serving as State Treasurer
-Ruth Johnson: ran for MI Senate after serving as Secretary of State
-Eliot Spitzer: ran for NYC Comptroller after serving as Governor
-David Young: ran for IA House after serving in Congress
-Larry Rhoden: ran for SD House after serving in SD Senate
-Dan Ahlers: ran for SD House after serving in SD Senate
-Roy Barnes: ran for GA House after serving in GA Senate
-Jackie Cilley: ran for NH House after serving in NH Senate
-David Rivera: ran for FL House after serving in Congress
-Anthony Brindisi: ran for NY Supreme Court after serving in Congress
-Evan Jenkins: ran for WV Supreme Court after serving in Congress

[JMT]

Interesting! While it’s not terribly uncommon for former members of Congress to run for lower office, I think it’s pretty rare for an incumbent to do so:

https://twitter.com/patricksvitek/status/1724207752447209633?s=46&t=-r8JGlJn...

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became Vice President of Argentina after her presidency.

[JMT]

Interesting! While it’s not terribly uncommon for former members of Congress to run for lower office, I think it’s pretty rare for an incumbent to do so:

https://twitter.com/patricksvitek/status/1724207752447209633?s=46&t=-r8JGlJn...

Lol nevermind

https://twitter.com/bradj_tx/status/1724532035585192226?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno4tbL...

[Badger]

Here are some others:

-David Baria: ran for MS House after serving in MS Senate
-Pete Gallego: ran for TX Senate after serving in Congress
-Mike Michaud: ran for Board of Selectmen after serving in Congress
-Pat Quinn: ran for Attorney General after serving as Governor
-Jean Schmidt: ran for OH House after serving in Congress
-Matt Adamczyk: ran for WI House after serving as State Treasurer
-Ruth Johnson: ran for MI Senate after serving as Secretary of State
-Eliot Spitzer: ran for NYC Comptroller after serving as Governor
-David Young: ran for IA House after serving in Congress
-Larry Rhoden: ran for SD House after serving in SD Senate
-Dan Ahlers: ran for SD House after serving in SD Senate
-Roy Barnes: ran for GA House after serving in GA Senate
-Jackie Cilley: ran for NH House after serving in NH Senate
-David Rivera: ran for FL House after serving in Congress
-Anthony Brindisi: ran for NY Supreme Court after serving in Congress
-Evan Jenkins: ran for WV Supreme Court after serving in Congress

If we are talking about state politicians, there are numerous Ohio politicians who have done so. This is basically a way of complying with term limits which say you can't serve more than eight consecutive years in the Statehouse or senate, but there is no cumulative cap on the number of terms one can serve in either as long as they don't run more than 8 years consecutive in either chamber. A state representative I'm familiar with has bounced back and forth between the House and Senate multiple times, and he's not the only one in the state by far

[JMT]

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo is considering running for NYC Mayor:

https://twitter.com/jonlemire/status/1727305699527451118?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno4tb...

[JMT]

I remembered a couple more, both from Louisiana:

-Vance McAllister: ran for LA State Senate after serving in Congress.
-Edwin Edwards: ran for Congress after serving as LA Governor.

And also:

-Ruben Kihuen: ran for Las Vegas City Council after serving in Congress
-Vito Fossella: ran for Borough President of Staten Island after serving in Congress

I realized there’s a bit of overlap here with this thread and another one I created awhile back: https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=486800.0

[President Johnson]

Gordon J. Humphrey, he was a US Senator from New Hampshire from 1979 to 1990 and then ran for state senate, where he served until 1992. I just heard of him during the 2020 election as he was a moderate Republican (now Independent) who endorsed Joe Biden.

There's also Julian Carroll, former governor of Kentucky. He succeeded Wendell Ford in 1974 from lt. governor when latter ran for senate and was subsequently elected in his own right in 1975. In 2005, he became a Kentucky state senator and remained a Democratic member until 2021, serving until he was 89.

[OriAr]

I think the question of whether Governor is higher or lower than a House seat depends heavily on the state and, to some extent, the politician in question. Same goes for some of the other local executive offices mentioned.

I think House-to-Governor is an upgrade regardless of the state.  Senate-to-Governor is ambiguous, and roughly corresponds to whether or not the state in question has more than one-fiftieth of the national population.  That put's the breakeven population at around ~6.6 million, which is roughly the size of Indiana.   

Senate vs governorship depends on the state, and what kind of senator one is in office.
Being a governor of a large state is better than being a junior senator but being an important senator (Being a chairman of a major committee for example) easily overtakes being a governor, regardless of what state it is.

[JMT]

https://twitter.com/rpyers/status/1733283388147314742?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno4tbLkn...

[JMT]

Cleo Fields is running for Congress in the new LA-06. Fields was previously a member of Congress, then ran for lower office (State Senate) once he was drawn out of his district. Now he’s seeking to return to Congress:

https://twitter.com/baseballot/status/1749911336111292576?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno4t...

[JMT]

Rob Simmons (R-CT) was elected First Selectman of Stonington, CT in 2015 after previously serving in Congress

[JMT]

Debbie Lesko is running for Maricopa County Supervisor:

https://twitter.com/debbielesko/status/1760063527652323796?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno4...

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Congressman Tom Sawyer (D-OH) served in the House from 1/3/1987 - 1/3/2003 and then served in the Ohio State Senate from 2/20/2007 - 12/31/2016.

[Badger]

Congressman Tom Sawyer (D-OH) served in the House from 1/3/1987 - 1/3/2003 and then served in the Ohio State Senate from 2/20/2007 - 12/31/2016.

And was mayor of Akron before then. So does that count as a double step down I guess?

[JMT]

https://twitter.com/politics1com/status/1760685359938355425?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno...

[Schiff for Senate]

I think the question of whether Governor is higher or lower than a House seat depends heavily on the state and, to some extent, the politician in question. Same goes for some of the other local executive offices mentioned.

I think House-to-Governor is an upgrade regardless of the state.  Senate-to-Governor is ambiguous, and roughly corresponds to whether or not the state in question has more than one-fiftieth of the national population.  That put's the breakeven population at around ~6.6 million, which is roughly the size of Indiana.   

Agreed, except that it's not quite just based on population - the power of the governor also varies state by state; for instance, after Cooper and Evers won, Republicans in NC and WI, respectively, weakened the powers of the governor quite a bit. In NC in particular, there's only a 3/5 threshold for veto override and the governor cannot veto the maps the legislature passes. Otoh, up in NJ, the governor appoints the holders of all the row offices, giving him some power by virtue of patronage.

[JMT]

https://twitter.com/politics1com/status/1751983741365313686?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno...

[Mr. Smith]

Richard Milhous Nixon. Why, he even lost, and had that last press conference.

[JMT]

I’m not really sure if this is considered a “lower office” or not, but former Congressman John Barrow is running for GA Supreme Court. Barrow also ran for Secretary of State in 2018 after serving in Congress:

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1764682843077108075?s=46&t=-r8JGlJno4tb...

[JMT]

https://twitter.com/carneyforwilm/status/1784972390423835034?s=46&t=-r8JGlJn...

Also, I saw recently that former Rep. Dave Weldon is running for State House:

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/02/20/weldon-a-doctor-and-former-congressman-to-run-for-florida-house-seat/69911551007/