Tellingly, while 11 of the outgoing Democrats can be categorized as “pure retirements,” whereby they’re leaving with no future plans to seek public office, just four of the 11 Republicans fall into this category. This asymmetry isn’t surprising, though, as the president’s party tends to see a larger number of pure retirements in midterm cycles. The reality is that some Democrats anticipate losing the House majority and don’t want to stick around even if they have safe — or less difficult — seats to run in.

Take Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, who announced his retirement earlier this month. DeFazio chairs the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, but he stood to lose his gavel if the GOP won the House. It’s possible after almost 36 years in the House, DeFazio may have also felt it was simply time to move on, even though Oregon Democrats recently shored up his district on the state’s new congressional map. But a combination of age and the possibility of being in the minority probably influenced his choice, as may have been the case for veteran lawmakers like Reps. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, David Price of North Carolina and Jackie Speier of California, all of whom hold safe Democratic seats.

On the Republican side, however, more members are embracing ambitions to run for higher office than simply exiting stage right. Seven out of the 11 outgoing Republicans are seeking another post. Of those, four are running for Senate, each in open-seat races where winning the Republican primary might be enough to become a senator, especially in a GOP-leaning midterm environment.