Another Congressman Calling it Quits
Housecleaning continues in Congress. And I’m sure this won’t be the last.
Who knows why Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) has decided to call it quits, but he has.
As reported by The Huffington Post,
Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), a veteran lawmaker who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced he won’t seek re-election this year.
Royce, who has represented his Orange County congressional district since 1993, is serving his last year as head of the influential committee under the term limits for chairmanships adopted by the House Republican caucus. He joins several other GOP congressmen who, similarly faced with having to give up committee chairmanships, have decided to retire rather than run for re-election this November.
The list includes including Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling of Texas, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Chair Lamar Smith, also of Texas, Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania and House Administration Committee Chair Gregg Harper of Mississippi.
Overall, the number of Republicans leaving the House after this session is far outpacing that of Democrats. In addition to Royce, at least 30 House Republicans have announced they are retiring, running for another office or resigning outright, according to a CNN tracker. Only 16 Democrats have done the same.
The disparity is among the factors boosting the hopes of Democrats that they can capture control of the chamber in November’s vote.
Royce was among the top Democratic targets of House seats the party want to flip in this year’s elections. Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton carried his district ― an increasingly diverse enclave of residents ― by 9 percentage points in the 2016 election.
Naturally Democrats will rejoice in this. But as I have predicted, their joy will be short-lived.
By election time, the Republicans will be able to run zombies and win. The Democrats are damaged goods.
We documented that Chris Wallace of Fox News disagrees with me.
While appearing on Shepard Smith Reporting, Chris Wallace promoted “fake news” narrative of doom and gloom for the 2018 election.
He pointed to recent Democratic wins in the Virginia gubernatorial election and the Alabama Senate special election.
Partial Transcript:
“You see a very energized Democratic voter base, especially among suburban women, young people, minorities,” Wallace said.
“We’re an eternity away, it’s 11 months away, but this is going to be a tough election for Republicans,” he said. “And obviously, any effort of the president to pass his agenda would really be put in jeopardy were Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats to take back control of the House.”
We will soon see who’s right, as November will get here faster than the Left believes.
