Dem
51
GOP
49
Three members of the House bid farewell to the chamber yesterday, albeit in different ways. We'll start with Kevin McCarthy, as we already mentioned him above. Inasmuch as he's resigning as of Dec. 31, and yesterday was the House's last day in session for 2023, he has reached the end of the line. He gave the customary "farewell" speech to a nearly empty House gallery, which meant it was actually kind of... sad (if you want to see for yourself, the video is here). His remarks were full of empty platitudes, on the general theme of "you have to do what's right, even if it's not popular." We would be more impressed with that message if McCarthy had ever actually followed his own advice while in office. For example, supporting Donald Trump's efforts to subvert the 2020 election seems a heck of a lot more like doing what's popular (at least, among Republicans) than doing what's right.
The other two "adieus" aren't immediate, just announcements that the member will join the horde of representatives heading for the door once this Congress expires. The latest additions to the retirements list are Drew Ferguson (R-GA) and Wiley Nickel (D-NC). Ferguson says he wants to spend more time with his family. His district, GA-03, is R+18 and so is sure to stay in Republican hands. Nickel's retirement, after just one term, is an acknowledgment of the fact that new, gerrymandered maps of North Carolina are going to leave him on the outside looking in. He says he isn't done with politics, and that he is potentially interested in running for Thom Tillis' (R-NC) seat when it comes up in 2026. This makes 33 retirements so far, 11 Republican and 22 Democratic.
And finally, as long as we are at it, New York Republicans have selected their candidate for the special election for "George Santos'" now-vacant seat. It is Mazi Melesa Pilip. She is an Ethiopian-born Jew whose family fled to Israel when she was a child, and is a veteran of the Israeli Defense Forces. That's quite an... unusual demographic profile. One has to assume that the central planks of her campaign will involve the ongoing situation in Israel, and allegations that Democrats tolerate and/or encourage antisemitism. We'll see how well that works against Tom Suozzi, who attracted the lion's share of the Jewish vote in his three elections to this same seat. (Z)