Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia announced Wednesday he is retiring at the end of his term.
Loudermilk will not seek re-election to a seventh term, and is the 29th Republican to quit their re-election campaign heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
Loudermilk, who has represented Georgia’s 11th Congressional District since 2015, said in a statement that serving in Congress has been a tremendous honor but it is time to set aside.
“I first ran for election to Congress in 2014 and, as I stated then, representing the people in Congress is a service, not a career; and although I continue to have strong support from the people of the Eleventh Congressional District, I believe it is time to contribute to my community, state, and nation in other ways,” Loudermilk said. “Therefore, I have decided not to seek re-election at the end of my current term in Congress.”
“I have learned throughout my life that doing what is right is not always easy, convenient, or popular. My wife and I have prayed diligently and discussed this extensively; and, while this is not an easy decision, we believe it is the right one,” Loudermilk said.
“While serving my constituents in Congress ranks among my greatest honors, being a husband, a father, and a grandfather holds even greater importance to me; and at this time, I wish to spend more dedicated time with my family.”
Loudermilk won re-election in 2024 by nearly 35 points, taking about 65.6 percent of the vote in the reliably Republican district. The 11th District backed President Donald Trump by 23 points in the last election.
Republicans will be strongly favored to hold the 11th district seat in November.
Loudermilk arrived in the House in 2015 as a tea party-style conservative and quickly became a staunch ally of President Donald Trump. An Air Force veteran and former state legislator, he defeated former Rep. Bob Barr in a 2014 primary runoff in his first race for Congress.
Trump praised Loudermilk on social media in late 2024 for his work examining the January 6 committee.
“Congratulations to Congressman Barry Loudermilk on the great work he has done in exposing the massive corruption of the J6 Unselect Committee of Political Thugs!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
In March 2024, Loudermilk released an initial findings report stating that the January 6 Select Committee promoted hearsay and cherry-picked information to promote a political goal.
“For nearly two years former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s January 6th Select Committee promoted hearsay and cherry-picked information to promote its political goal – to legislatively prosecute former President Donald Trump,” Loudermilk said. “It was no surprise that the Select Committee’s final report focused primarily on former President Trump and his supporters, not the security failures and reforms needed to ensure the United States Capitol is safer today than in 2021.”
Loudermilk himself was mentioned in the January 6 committee’s final report for leading a tour group through House office buildings on January 5, 2021, but Capitol Police quickly concluded that the tour was not suspicious. U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said in a June 2022 letter that there is no evidence that Loudermilk was even with the group personally.
“We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious,” Manger said.
Loudermilk said in March 2024 that the January 6 committee knew the allegation that he gave a reconnaissance tour was verifiably false.
“As the subcommittee continues to go through over 2 million documents provided by the January 6th Select Committee, our initial review has found that their work was solely focused on pushing a pre-determined narrative and they selectively chose ‘facts’ to fit that narrative,” Loudermilk said. “I was the target of one of those narratives, when they accused me of giving a ‘reconnaissance tour.’ We’ve uncovered documents that prove the committee knew that the allegation that I gave a ‘reconnaissance tour’ was verifiably false, yet continued to make public accusations and ultimately printed that lie in their final report.”
Loudermilk was among the House lawmakers present at a practice session of the Republican congressional baseball team in 2017 when a radical leftist gunman opened fire and shot four people, including Republican Rep. Steve Scalise, then the chamber’s majority whip.