Heading into the midterm election year — typically seen as a referendum on the president’s political party — House Democrats are flocking towards the exits instead of protecting their wafer-thin majority with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

With the midterms less than a year away, 23 House Democrats have already announced they will not be running for reelection to retire from the public eye for wanting to be with family, focus on health, or say it is time to move on, while some Democrats are also looking to run for a different office, such as the U.S. Senate.

However, those reasons do not include redistricting, which has potentially influenced members’ decisions, such as Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL). Murphy said she is not running for reelection but claimed reasons other than redistricting even though her seat would essentially be torn in two and absorbed by other districts if the current proposed map passed the state’s legislature. All of this came after she was snubbed out of running for the Senate by Florida congressional colleague Rep. Val Demings (D-FL).

The 15 Democrats that have announced they are retiring from public office after the current term, which expires in January 2023:

Additionally, eight Democrats have announced they are running for a different office: 

There are also members such as embattled Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) who announced he would be running for reelection, but in a different congressional district than his current one. In October, he announced that he is abandoning his constituents and his seat to run in a new district instead of his now-competitive congressional district, which Republican opponents have long sought to win.

Additionally, House Democrats have also continuously seen low poll numbers in the generic, hypothetical election polls across the county, which could be seen as a result of passing partisan agenda items. Numerous polls have shown Republicans beating Democrats in a generic ballot leading up to the election when respondents say who they would elect to represent them, as Democrats continue to pass partisan agenda items, such as the infrastructure package and the reconciliation bill. One generic poll from RealClearPolitics and another poll from Quinnipiac University showed Republicans leading for the first time since 2014.

Some of those partisan agenda items are the $1.2 trillion, 2,702-page so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill earlier this year — which President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. already signed into law and the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act (BBB). However, while the BBB was considered to be the “marquee legislation” of Biden’s agenda and would have ultimately increased taxes on the middle class, expanded and prolonged the effects of inflation, and added hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S. deficit, it was effectively killed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), when he admitted on national television he would not be able to support the passage of the behemoth bill.

All of this gives Republicans a chance to gain more seats as strong Republican candidates are already running in the majority — if not all — of the 20 plus districts where a Democrat has announced they would not be seeking reelection. Even though some of the districts are favored towards the Democrats, many of the now open seats or the remaining Democrats would be in tough reelection battles across the county. In most cases, they may have to campaign in new areas where their district did not encompass before the redistricting maps were approved in their prospective states.

Nonetheless, there are rumors of more Democrats abandoning ship in the coming weeks and months leading up to the midterms, as more redistricting maps are accepted and deadlines to file for reelection are getting closer. Some Democrat members to watch out for in the upcoming election are Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ), Rep. Cindy Axne (D-IA), Rep. Abigail Spanberger (VA), and Rep. Elaine Luria (VA):

There have been reports of Pelosi herself contemplating leaving elected office, but a recent report from CNN said she is planning to file for reelection in the San Francisco-based district next year. Pelosi “isn’t ruling out the possibility of trying to stay in leadership after 2022,” one source told CNN.

Additionally, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), a close confidant to Pelosi, disputed the growing reports and speculation of him retiring, calling them “crap” and committing to “absolutely” running.

Breitbart News has extensively reported on Pelosi’s majority crumbling in the past, with the Democrats struggling to find new candidates to run in some congressional districts because the majority, if not all, of the contested districts, have strong Republican candidates already running.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.