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I quit! Top Dem congressman leaves office 11 months early, blaming a ‘slow’ Congress

By: The Horn editorial team

U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., announced Sunday that he will leave Congress abruptly.

He plans to quit 11 months before the end of his current term, and he’s blamed the dysfunction in Washington.

“It’s just a time for change, and I think this is the time,” Higgins, 64, said at a news conference. He added that he plans to leave office during the first week of February.

Higgins, who serves on the House Ways and Means and Budget committees, began his 10th term in January.

“Congress is not the institution that I went to 19 years ago. It’s a very different place today,” he said. “We’re spending more time doing less. And the American people aren’t being served.”

In a statement, he added, “I’ve always been a little impatient, and that trait has helped us deliver remarkable progress for this community… But the pace in Washington, D.C. can be slow and frustrating, especially this year.”

Higgins joins a number of Congress members who have recently announced they would not seek reelection next year. The following day, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., announced her decision to run for governor, rather than face another difficult campaign for re-election.

All in all, 24 U.S. representatives have declined to run for re-election so far, and 16 of them are Democrats.

“I want to come back to the city and serve this city that I have represented in Washington for the past 19 years,” Higgins said during his announcement at the Buffalo History Museum. He said he had been fielding offers but did not know what he would do next.

Higgins began his political career in the Buffalo Common Council and the New York statehouse. Then in 2004, he won a special election to the U.S. House by a margin of 1.4 percent.

Higgins is co-chair of the Northern Border Caucus and Bipartisan Cancer Caucus and a member of the Great Lakes Task Force. He has long been popular with individual donors, especially business owners in Buffalo.

Despite his narrow victory in 2004, Higgins has won landslide re-elections since then. In fact, he’s received more than 60 percent of the vote in every election since 2006.

However, he’s seen his margins of victory decline over time, amid a statewide backlash against the Democrats. He won more than 74 percent of the vote in 2016, only to win 69.9 percent in 2020. After redistricting, he won only 63.9 percent of the vote in 2022. Although his district is still rated D+9, that’s a pronounced decline.

His departure will likely set up a special election for the spring.

“His work in Washington and western New York will be remembered for what it was: strategic, innovative, and at its core, always focused on why we do what we do as public servants: help people,” state Sen. Tim Kennedy said in a statement. Kennedy, also a Buffalo Democrat, is considered a potential candidate to replace Higgins.

 

The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.