Many factors contribute to a politician's decision to return to private life: Age, health and familial concerns are all common refrains from outgoing lawmakers justifying their choice to retire. But when multiple politicos of a similar ilk announce their departures in short succession, as Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) did this week, could there be more practical considerations at play? And if so, does the recent surge of progressivism like that which buoyed New York City's Zohran Mamdani play a role?

Rafi Schwartz
The Week Digital

Successive retirement announcements this week from North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon have sent shockwaves through the GOP, "illustrating how little room there is in the party for dissenting voices," while at the same time "complicating" their party's midterm plans, said The Washington Post. That two of the GOP's more centrist figures are opting to "self-deport from Washington" is a sign that "even a modicum of independence from Trump can be politically untenable in their branch of government," said The New York Times. 

Tillis' departure means the Senate is "in play for 2026," while Bacon's purple district in Nebraska is a "likely gain for Democrats in the House," said The Wall Street Journal. Both seats were already "top pick-up opportunities" for Democrats looking to capitalize on the "political headwinds" blowing against their opponents, said The Dispatch. 

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's win in last week's Democratic primary has "triggered a wave of Islamophobic attacks" that have become "normalized at the highest levels of American politics," said Axios. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's assertion that New York will become "Caracas on the Hudson" has less to do with economic theory and is instead a sign that he "feels free, maybe even obliged, to slander a foreign-born Muslim with language he would never use about a white Christian politician," said Paul Krugman on Substack. 

Although Mamdani's victory "immediately elicited strong anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric" from right-wing corners of social media, his supporters "aren't concerned" that the bigotry will "distract" from his general election campaign, said The Associated Press. But racism directed at Mamdani obscures the "substance" of his primary victory, said Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid to MSNBC. Mamdani's win should instead be sparking a "conversation about rent, a conversation about groceries, a conversation about public transit."

Taking a page from the conservative "Project 2025" road map that has largely defined the second Trump administration, a group of Democratic Party officials has come together to create a "ready-made agenda for the next Democratic presidential nominee," dubbed Project 2029, said The New York Times. With an advisory board consisting of notable liberal figures like Biden administration National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Center for American Progress head Neera Tanden, it's "unclear" whether the group represents an "'across-the-spectrum'" sample of Democratic thinkers, said New York magazine. With that in mind, it's possible that the "real idea" behind the project is to create a batch of "fleshed-out proposals" that some future "centrist candidate customizes for herself or himself in launching a 2028 bid."

While Project 2025 was about right-wing legal groups sketching an "agenda for a new GOP DOJ," said Semafor's Dave Weigel on Bluesky, Project 2029 will be the "opposite: getting a Dem message disconnected from left-wing groups."

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