But in interviews with CNN, several other GOP senators dropped questions about their political future or made it clear that they really did not decide to run again, including sens. John Thune of South Dakota, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Richard Shelby of Alabama. .
Thune, 60, said he would announce “at some point in the future” while putting questions about his thinking aside. Johnson, 65, said he did not have to make a decision for a while. Grassley, 87, said he would make his announcement within a few months. Shelby, 86, said, “I’ll let you know.”
The party without power usually gets seats in the first midterm election of a president, but Republicans will have to defend 20 of their Senate seats in 2022, while Democrats only need to defend 14 seats.
The three retirements have been somewhat of a surprise since Portman, Burr and Toomey hovered around the Senate’s average age of about 62 years. Yet they lamented the Senate as an increasingly divided institution without the willpower to break the partisan roster. As of now, there are no democratic senators who have decided to step aside, although that may change quickly.
Asked why he would stay in the Senate, Johnson said “to be a firewall” against Washington’s democratic control.
“I’m not a fan of this place,” Johnson said of the Senate. “I think this place is terribly dysfunctional.”
Other Republican senators from rival states sounded like they would run again, though some would not say so explicitly.
Senator Roy Blunt, a member of the Republican leadership, said he had not made an “official announcement”.
“If I do, then the campaign starts officially,” he added.
And as she entered the Senate subway into the Capitol, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski told CNN, “I’m running.” Mitt Romney, a Utah senator, then “tentatively” intervened and smiled.
A number of other senators from deep red states have not announced their new campaigns, but have told CNN they plan to get started, including Mike Crapo of Idaho, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Jerry Moran of Kansas and John Boozman of Arkansas.
“I’m running to the border first and the second election,” said John Kennedy, Louis Sen.
While Republicans are not sure which member of them may be next, Portman’s decision caught on very off guard. “He’s a big loss, a big loss for the caucus, really for the country,” Thune said of Portman.
The Ohio Republican also had a unique connection to his state and won his last race in 2016 by 20 points against former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.
“I was surprised,” Senator Rick Scott of Florida, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told CNN about Portman’s decision. Asked if the NRSC would get involved in the primary, Scott said: “I do not know. I know people have been in the past, so we will see. It will be a new experience.”
Scott personally asked each of his incumbents to get back on track, but said Republicans would retain the U.S. Senate seat in Ohio.
“This is another race for which we will raise the money and win,” he said. “We’re up and running. We talk to candidates, we recruit candidates, we raise money.”
But the Democrats said the GOP’s retirement would be a blessing in disguise for their chances of retaining the Senate.
“With Ohio now joining Pennsylvania and North Carolina as another liability for an open seat in a major warfield, Republicans are faced with confusing and divisive primaries and a 2022 map that is becoming increasingly difficult to defend,” said Stewart Boss, spokesman for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.
The Senate is currently split 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the vote, giving Democrats control of the chamber.
Republicans acknowledge that their jobs will be cut out for them if more of their colleagues step aside.
“It certainly creates more focus on recruiting candidates,” said Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican running for re-election in South Carolina next year. Retirements amount to a “loss of institutional knowledge on our part that is impossible to replace.”
“But finding interesting, fascinating and exciting candidates will be our job,” Scott said.
CNN’s Aaron Pellish, Clare Foran and Jeff Zeleny contributed.