U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn said Thursday he will seek an 18th term in the House, setting up another campaign for a longtime Democratic leader who is positioned to remain influential in House Democratic leadership if Democrats regain the majority in November.
Clyburn made the announcement in Columbia at South Carolina state party headquarters, saying he believes he is prepared to serve another term. Speaking at the event, he said, “I’m here today to say I do believe that I’m very well equipped and healthy enough to move into the next term, trying to do the things that are necessary to continue that pursuit of perfection,” and added, “And so I will run a very vigorous campaign.”
The decision adds to a debate inside the Democratic Party about whether party leaders should step aside for younger politicians. Clyburn, who is among the oldest Democrats serving in Washington, said his plans cut against calls for generational change, and he is also the only member of the last Democratic leadership team who is seeking to remain for another term. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer plan to retire at the end of their current terms.
Clyburn said the decision also involved advice from his family. He said he sought counsel from his three daughters before making his announcement, including Mignon Clyburn, a former Federal Communications Commission member, who Clyburn said was concerned about “the political vitriol” her father would face in Washington. Clyburn said, “Her interest was in her daddy and what she thought I might be subjected to,” and he said that after his daughter decided she could live with it, “I’m here.”
Clyburn also described what he said was encouragement from another daughter, saying he had heard from her that “we don’t listen to them people up there, and you should not. You should listen to the people down here, and we don’t want you to leave.” He said he was “responding to the people that are here.”
In Washington, Clyburn has previously served as majority whip and assistant Democratic leader, and he has been a leading figure for Democrats in South Carolina and nationwide. Remaining in Congress for another term, he said, could allow him to serve alongside Jeffries, the New York Democrat in line to become speaker if Democrats win control of the House.
When asked about the possibility of advising Jeffries, Clyburn said the two spoke recently about working together in the next Congress. “He expressed an interest in my being a part of his leadership, if we were to take the House back,” Clyburn said, adding that “It made me feel necessary.”
Clyburn won re-election in 2024 by more than 20 percentage points and has represented South Carolina’s district since first being elected in 1992. The district covers areas around Columbia and then runs through rural central and eastern counties down to Charleston. He has said that in earlier years he intended to keep campaigning as long as his health and family support remained steady. Four years ago, when he announced his bid for a 16th term, he told The Associated Press he had told his daughters: “I’ve told them, if you ever see that I need to go to the rocking chair or spend my spare time on the golf course, let me know.”
Clyburn said South Carolina’s filing for this year’s elections opens Monday and closes March 30. South Carolina’s primary elections will be held June 9. He also said that while he is looking ahead to another term, whether it would be his last is an “open question,” saying, “I’m looking forward to the day that I can spend more time reading, writing and playing golf, and so this could very well be to my last term,” but also that it “could very well not be.”
If Clyburn does complete an 18th House term, he would become the longest-serving South Carolinian ever in the U.S. House. He is the only Democrat representing South Carolina in Washington, and he said he expects any future successor race would be competitive if he eventually leaves office.