Governors Are Blowing Off Senate Runs As Congress Gets Increasingly ‘Dysfunctional’

Once considered a promotion, several governors have declined Senate bids already this cycle, despite the potential for their party to pick up seats.

Senator Rick Scot greets Senator Mike Rounds
Rick Scott and Mike Rounds were both governors before coming to the Senate. Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP

Serving as governor used to be a stepping stone to the Senate. These days, not so much.

Governors are refusing to run for open Senate seats — despite heavy lobbying from the national parties — and sitting senators are opting to run for governor rather than for re-election. The Senate’s current slate of governors-turned-senators say there’s a good reason why.

“They see the same thing that we see in terms of a dysfunctional operation in the Senate and the House,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, who served as South Dakota’s governor from 2003-2011. “We don’t even do appropriations. We do continuing resolutions. We’re not able to build consensus. Those are not good things.”