Rep. Jim Clyburn, 85, is running for an 18th term in Congress

Longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S

Longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., one of the oldest members of Congress, said Thursday that he’ll run for an 18th term in the House, breaking with two other former top Democratic leaders — Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer — who have decided to retire.

"In a few minutes, I’m going to sign the paperwork that’s necessary in order to qualify for the Democratic nomination to run again," Clyburn told a roomful of supporters at an event in Columbia, South Carolina, at the state’s Democratic Party headquarters.

Clyburn, 85, was first elected to Congress in 1992, the same year another Democrat from the South, Bill Clinton, won the White House.

He was quickly elected co-president of his freshman class in Congress and continued to rise through the ranks. He served as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1999 to 2001, then made the leap to the Democratic leadership team, as vice chairman and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

After Democrats took control of the House in the 2006 midterms, Clyburn won election as majority whip, the No. 3 leadership post. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Clyburn would occupy the top three leadership jobs for the next 16 years as younger, ambitious Democrats complained about the need for generational change.