Dem
51
GOP
49
There were a couple of bits of the news yesterday when it comes to the game of musical chairs that is the United States House of Representatives. First, Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN) announced that he would join the parade of colleagues headed for the doors. He said that he reflected on his future during the Christmas holiday, and that the time has come. He also quoted the Bible in his announcement: "For everything there is a season." So, it would seem that it was a tag-team effort by Santa Claus and Jesus. His current, and final, term is his seventh.
IN-08, the district that Bucshon is vacating, is R+19. So, this one's not changing hands. There are no declared Republicans yet, but soon there will be. And while the general election will presumably be a walk for whichever of them survives, the primary figures to be ugly. In fact, elections in this particular neck of the woods have such a reputation for nastiness and dirty tricks that the district is known as the "Bloody Eighth." IN-08 is in the southwest corner of Indiana, and its biggest city is Evansville. We don't know if that explains the district's political culture, but we do know it's fairly close to St. Louis, and that St. Louis was founded by the French, who also founded Canada. So...
The other House news comes out of California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced that the primary election to fill the former seat of Kevin McCarthy would be scheduled for March 19, with the runoff, if necessary, to be held on May 21. Newsom could have kept the seat open for considerably longer, had he wanted to; either he felt that was not fair to the people of Bakersfield, or he didn't want to be attacked for being anti-democratic. In any case, the R+16 district, CA-20, will return to the Republican fold as soon as the elections are held. If everything goes right for Mike Johnson, he could have a margin of error of four or even five votes by June. Assuming he's still speaker, that is. (Z)