Longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., one of the oldest members of Congress, said Thursday that he’ll run for an 18th term in the House, breaking with two other former top Democratic leaders — Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer — who have decided to retire.
"In a few minutes, I’m going to sign the paperwork that’s necessary in order to qualify for the Democratic nomination to run again," Clyburn told a roomful of supporters at an event in Columbia, South Carolina, at the state’s Democratic Party headquarters.
Clyburn, 85, has said in the past that he wants to help Democrats take back control of the House in November and elect the nation’s first Black speaker, one of his protégés, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
Clyburn said he had a phone call on Wednesday with Jeffries, who encouraged him to run again and be a part of his leadership team in the new Congress.
"He was among those who asked me to stay. He did not know or had not been informed of what my decision was going to be," Clyburn recalled. "And he expressed an interest in my being a part of his leadership, if he were to take the House back. It made me feel necessary."
Clyburn was first elected to Congress in 1992, the same year another Democrat from the South, Bill Clinton, won the White House.
He was quickly elected co-president of his freshman class in Congress and continued to rise through the ranks. He served as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1999 to 2001, then made the leap to the Democratic leadership team, as vice chairman and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
After Democrats took control of the House in the 2006 midterms, Clyburn won election as majority whip, the No. 3 leadership post. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md.; and Clyburn would occupy the top three leadership jobs for the next 16 years as younger, ambitious Democrats complained about the need for generational change.
While Pelosi and Hoyer left leadership in 2022, Clyburn stepped down from his leadership role two years later, paving the way for Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., to take over that position.
The South Carolina congressman has long been known as a Democratic kingmaker in the Palmetto State, and he is credited with propelling former President Joe Biden's campaign to victory in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary with his endorsement.
His annual World Famous Fish Fry is frequented every year by ambitious Democrats from across the country hoping for early access to the state's Democratic primary voters.
Clyburn was asked Thursday how much his potential influence in a 2028 presidential primary weighed on his decision to run again.
"None of it," the congressman answered.
He added later: "I'm focused this year on state legislative seats, I'm focused on constitutional offices, I'm focused on the governorship, and once we get this behind us, I'll start thinking about 2028, but quite frankly, I'm not focused on 2028 now."
Clyburn said in his remarks that he would address the question he always faces, about what more is left for him to do in public service.
“We exist in the pursuit of a more perfect union. There’s nobody here today that thinks this country is perfect,” the congressman told the crowd, citing the preamble of the U.S. Constitution. “But I don’t think there’s anybody today who believes we should give up on this pursuit of perfection.”
He added, “I believe I am very well equipped and healthy enough to move into the next term, trying to do the things that are necessary” in that pursuit of perfection.
Clyburn also noted his upcoming 86th birthday, on July 21, saying of his re-election plans: "If I were not up to it, I would not do it."
He is among the oldest members of Congress, but not the oldest. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, third in line to the presidency, is 92 years old, while Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., the dean of the House, is seeking re-election this fall at age 88.
