The sudden exit of former Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has created additional headaches for Republican Party leaders who were already looking at a dogfight to hold on to the House in 2024.
The GOP’s razor-thin majority of four seats was reduced by one when Rep. George Santos was expelled. With McCarthy’s exit and the early retirement of Ohio Rep. Bill Johnson, who will take the job of president at Youngstown State University, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is really going to be up against it.
A special election will be held on February 13 for the Santos seat. His New York district is very competitive, and you can bet that Democrats will pull out all the stops to elect one of their own.
The special election in McCarthy’s California district has yet to be announced. Similarly, no date has been set for the special election in Ohio. Bill Johnson’s seat is probably safe after Johnson won 67% of the vote in 2022. McCarthy’s California district is solidly Republican meaning that seat will probably also stay GOP.
No matter what the eventual partisan split in the House will be, Speaker Johnson’s headaches in trying to keep the government running past the…
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