"After 14 general election victories -- three to county office, seven to the United States House of Representatives, and four statewide elections -- I won't be a candidate for reelection to the United States Senate next year," Blunt announced in a video message.
The unexpected announcement marks the latest decision not to seek reelection by a pragmatic GOP senator willing to reach across the aisle in the post-Trump era as the Republican Party grapples with its future.
GOP Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Richard Shelby of Alabama and Richard Burr of North Carolina have all indicated they do not intend to run for reelection. So far, no Senate Democrats up for reelection in 2022 have announced plans to retire.
Even without an incumbent Republican, the seat isn't likely to be competitive for Democrats. While Blunt defeated Democrat Jason Kander in 2016 by fewer than 3 percentage points, Missouri is an increasingly Republican state. Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill lost by almost 6 percentage points in 2018, and Trump won about 57% of the vote in the Show-Me state in 2020.
Blunt, a close ally of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, has a long history of serving in Congress and a deep understanding of the institution.
He is currently the senior senator from Missouri and was elected to the Senate in 2010.
Blunt serves in a leadership role as the chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee and serves as the ranking Republican member of the Senate Rules Committee, a position that gives him a great deal of behind-the-scenes power and influence into the inner workings of the chamber.
As the top Republican on the Rules Committee, Blunt worked with his Democratic counterpart, Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar, to reform how Congress handles sexual harassment issues among its own employees.
While Blunt's Missouri colleague Sen. Josh Hawley was one of the most outspoken senators in his objections to counting some electoral votes, Blunt didn't join the effort and played key roles in the formal transition of power as a one of the tellers who read electoral vote certificates on January 6 and as chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.
He also previously served in leadership in the House of Representatives.
"The people of Southwest Missouri overwhelmingly elected Senator Blunt seven times to the U.S. House of Representatives. Senator Blunt was elected the Majority Whip earlier in his career than any Member of Congress in eight decades, and he was elected to the Senate leadership during his first year in the Senate," according to the biography on his Senate website.
In his video message, Blunt said, "In every job Missourians have allowed me to have, I've tried to do my best. In almost 12,000 votes in the Congress, I'm sure I wasn't right every time, but you really make that decision based on the information you have at the time."
This story has been updated with additional developments Monday.
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March 08, 2021 at 11:30PM
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