U.S. Sen. Tom Carper to retire from politics after nearly 50 years in office

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, a patriarch of modern Delaware politics, will retire next year, ending a career as one of the most successful politicians in state history.

His announcement Monday at the Wilmington Riverfront will undoubtedly shake up the state, with now an open U.S. Senate seat in 2024.

"While nothing is forever, the Delaware Democratic Party is blessed today with a bench as strong as any I’ve ever seen in the 50 years that I’ve called Delaware home," Carper said in a prepared speech. "If there was ever an opportune time to step aside and pass the torch to the next generation, it’s coming, and it will be here on January 3, 2025.

"But, until then, God willing, I’ll continue working 60-hour weeks and coming home on the train most nights as long as Martha keeps leaving the light on for me."

Carper has been in statewide public office since 1977, serving as Delaware treasurer, congressman, governor and senator. He helped establish Delaware Democrats’ now longstanding ideology of socially liberal but center on economic and fiscal issues.

And he has been one of the most prominent representations of “The Delaware Way" − a less adversarial approach to politics that prioritizes building consensus. Yet critics have also derided this mentality for its behind-the-scenes politicking.

Throughout the decades, he remained popular with Delaware voters. In 2018, he faced his most challenging primary in years when he faced then-newcomer Kerri Evelyn Harris, who is now a state representative in the Delaware General Assembly.

Carper defeated her by a 30-point margin, ultimately capturing 60% of the vote in the general election.

Before running for reelection in 2018, Carper said at the time that he considered retiring. But that changed with former President Donald Trump’s victory in 2016.

It’s hard to find an elected Delaware official, and their respective deputy, who has not campaigned, interned or worked for the politician. Known as “Carper Town,” there’s an intricate web of connections, careers and marriages that can be traced back to the senior senator.

For years, many have viewed Delaware’s lone congresswoman Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester as the heir apparent to Carper’s seat.  Delaware has never elected a woman or person of color to the U.S. Senate.

But Gov. John Carney, whose career trajectory has been very similar to Carper’s, is in his final term as governor. He has not indicated what his future plans will be.

Tom Carper’s political history

Carper, born in West Virginia and raised in Virginia, first came to Delaware in 1973 as an M.B.A. student at the University of Delaware. He had served as a naval flight officer in the Vietnam War, making Carper the only remaining Vietnam veteran in the U.S. Senate.

Three years later, at age 29, he was elected as Delaware’s state treasurer. The Delaware Democratic Party was in the midst of transformation, in part from Joe Biden’s shocking upset against Caleb Boggs in the 1972 U.S. Senate race.

The two have been friends for decades. Carper noted in his speech that it was Biden, who calls him Tommy, who encouraged him to run for U.S. Senate.

Carper served as Delaware’s sole congressman for a decade, then as Delaware governor for two terms before running for U.S. Senate in 2000.  One of Carper’s signature achievements as governor was his role in the development of the Wilmington Riverfront, where he made his announcement Monday.

In the U.S. Senate, Carper has been vocal on climate change, serving as chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. He has also led the quest to make Washington, D.C. the country’s 51st state.

Carper, in his speech, spoke of his efforts to "help center and clean up the Democratic Party," which "have borne great fruit." Democrats control every statewide seat in Delaware.

Is age a factor in Carper's retirement?

Carper, at age 76, is not considered to be one of the older U.S. senators. The reelection bid of 80-year-old Biden and the health decline of 89-year-old U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-California, has put renewed scrutiny on the age and well-being of U.S. politicians.

Maryland U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, 79, recently announced his retirement earlier this month, citing his age as one of the factors in his decision.

For about a decade now, Carper has fiercely pushed back on questions of his health, primarily lobbed by opponents. When asked about his health during a campaign event in 2012, Carper responded by doing more than 30 push-ups on a folding table as supporters cheered. 

Carper, in his speech, did not cite a specific reason for retirement.

"As last year came to a close and the new one began," he said in his speech, "Martha and I began to focus on what I should do next - run for a fifth term in the Senate which - if I won - would be a record 15 statewide elections or ride off into the sunset and call it a day."

"After a good deal of prayer and introspection, and more than a few heart-to-heart conversations, we've decided I should do neither but, rather, run through the tape over the next 20 months..."

What Carper is known for

The senator is also known for his quirks. He famously drove a 2001 Chrysler Town & Country minivan , called the “Silver Bullet,” for two decades, racking up close to 600,000 miles.

In his final 20 months in office, Carper said he plans to help implement the significant climate provisions he helped write that passed in the infrastructure and inflation laws recently passed by Congress.

He called representing Delaware in public office as the “great privilege” of his life.

“I’ve never felt the gratitude and affection of so many Delawareans as I feel today when traveling through our Small Wonder," he said in his speech. "It is palpable, it is a source of joy, and it is deeply, deeply appreciated.”

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Tom Carper, longtime U.S. senator from Delaware, to retire in 2024