Loudermilk Exit Adds to GOP Turnover as Jan. 6 Reinvestigation Intensifies

Cobb County, GA – Georgia Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection, adding to a growing list of GOP departures as Republicans brace for a difficult midterm cycle.

Loudermilk, first elected to Congress in 2014, said he is stepping away to spend “more dedicated time” with his family, framing his decision as a return to the idea of public service rather than a lifelong career in Washington.

“I first ran for election to Congress in 2014 and, as I stated then, representing the people in Congress is a service, not a career,” Loudermilk said in a statement. “Although I continue to have strong support from the people of the 11th Congressional District, I believe it is time to contribute to my community, state, and nation in other ways.”

His announcement comes as the House subcommittee he leads — tasked with reinvestigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — escalates its work. The panel, created after Republicans gained the majority and framed as a counterweight to the earlier Democratic-led investigation chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), held its first hearings last month and issued subpoenas for phone records tied to the suspect accused of planting pipe bombs outside Republican and Democratic headquarters ahead of the riot.

While Republicans are widely expected to retain Loudermilk’s northwest Atlanta-based seat — which he won by 34 points in 2024 — his departure underscores the scale of turnover facing the GOP. Since the start of 2025, more than 30 House Republicans have announced retirements, resignations, or bids for other offices. Overall, about 50 incumbents across both parties are leaving the House this cycle.

Georgia alone will see significant change. In addition to Loudermilk’s retirement, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned her seat in January, triggering a March special election. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins are pursuing the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in an effort to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.

Loudermilk’s 11th Congressional District includes Bartow, Gordon, and Pickens counties, along with portions of Cherokee and Cobb counties. The Cook Political Report ranks it as the fifth-most Republican district among Georgia’s nine GOP-held seats.

Before his time in Congress, Loudermilk served in the U.S. Air Force, chaired the Bartow County Republican Party, and spent eight years in the Georgia General Assembly — six in the state House and two in the state Senate.

He was a focal point of scrutiny during the original House Jan. 6 investigation after giving a tour of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021. That committee suggested some participants may have been assessing security features, a claim Loudermilk forcefully denied, calling it a “smear campaign.”

After Republicans reclaimed the House, Loudermilk led a subcommittee that accused Cheney of misconduct related to the earlier Jan. 6 probe and called for a criminal investigation into her actions. He now heads another panel continuing the reinvestigation of the Capitol attack — work that will proceed even as he prepares to leave Congress.