Fellow Party Members Set to Succeed Reps. Payne and Posey

Over the past 24 hours, two more seats in the U.S. House have become vacant, bringing the total number of departing U.S. Representatives to 53, due to retirement, resignation, seeking another office, or sadly, passing away.

New Jersey Democrat Rep. Donald Payne, Jr., passed away on Thursday at the age of 65 after battling colon cancer. The son of New Jersey’s first Black congressman is likely to be succeeded in his Newark-area seat by another Democrat.

On Friday afternoon, 76-year-old veteran Republican Rep. Bill Posey of Florida announced that he will not seek re-election due to “circumstances beyond my control” that require him to suspend his re-election campaign.

This unexpected decision by the eight-term incumbent came on the day of the filing deadline for the Florida primary. The probable Republican nominee and almost certain successor to Posey is former State Sen. Mike Haridopolous, a staunch conservative and ally of Donald Trump.

Haridopolous, who previously served in the state House and as Posey’s finance committee chairman in several congressional races, was endorsed by Posey himself: “Mike was, and remains, my first choice to represent you, me, and our district in Congress.”

The departure of 53 members from Congress marks the largest exodus of incumbent U.S. Representatives since 1992.

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.