Last year, the Republican leader of the House of Representatives predicted his party would win 60 seats. Now he will not assign a number.
“Enough seats that we have the majority, but we will compete for every seat across the country,” Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader R-Bakersfield, told local media last Friday.
McCarthy says the state of the economy will return control of the House to Republicans, not abortion rights, the party leader said.
“I just don’t think Americans want to go down the same path and pain that they’re going through right now,” McCarthy said.
His optimism extends to two Republicans running in concurrent seats in the Central Valley. McCarthy predicts victory for Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford in Congressional District 22; and John Duarte, R-Modesto, in the open CD 13.
Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball say the seats are tos-ups, a 50/50 chance. Valadao meets State Representative Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield; Duarte takes over Rep. Adam Gray, D-Merced.
Democrats currently control the House of Representatives, 221-212 (with two seats contested in special elections – both formerly held by Republicans). The GOP would have to flip a net of five seats as of now to take control.
Downplays abortion rights
McCarthy said voters are more concerned about inflation and economic woes than they are about protecting abortion rights.
“The main issue (the voters) has the economy. They’re worried their money won’t go that far. You watched study after study. Twenty million Americans are behind on their energy bills and facing the coming winter and cannot afford to pay more. They had a month’s pay taken from them,” said McCarthy, who also cited public safety as a factor. “Those are the issues that drive me the most in these races,” McCarthy said.
A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation supported McCarthy’s claims but found that abortion rights are significant, with 55% calling it “very important”.
“While abortion is a motivating issue for some constituencies, it is eclipsed by inflation, including rising gasoline prices, which 74% of respondents rank as ‘very important,'” Axios reported of the poll.
McCarthy downplayed the recent special election victory of Pat Ryan, D-New York, calling it “already a Democrat seat.” Abortion rights were a central theme in this campaign.
Democrats are making it a campaign issue, spending $57 million on TV and digital advertising since the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling in June, the Los Angeles Times reports.
McCarthy on the problems
Other highlights from McCarthy’s press conference:
- On campaigning with former President Donald Trump in the Central Valley:
“I just spoke to him yesterday. I work with everyone. In this district, fortunately, I think I could win that and I would use his strength in other places. I don’t think we need it in this district.”
McCarthy said he was willing to debate with his opponent, Bakersfield Democrat Marisa Wood.
- On the 28-count indictment against former Congressman TJ Cox, D-Fresno:
“What took so long? … I never did much with him in Congress because I always felt something was wrong.”
Similar story: TJ Cox’s PAC spent $35,000 on criminal lawyers
- McCarthy rejects California plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
Related Story: In Clovis, House GOP leader calls California gas car ban ‘stupid’
- On the affidavit of the FBI raid on former President Trump’s Mar-A-Lago home:
“The American public deserves the right to know. I think you’re undermining confidence in secrecy. And you never want an America where someone uses the Justice Department for political reasons,” McCarthy said.
- On President Joe Biden’s action to forgive some borrowers up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt:
“The president doesn’t have the authority to just wipe someone out on a college education. And the next question arises, who should pay for it? There’s going to be a lot of people who might not have gone to college who are paying for someone else’s college too. It’s like everything else. When you sign a piece of paper with a promise of what you will pay based on a product you will receive. I think you should persevere.”
- On potential investigations if Republicans take control:
McCarthy said Republicans would likely launch investigations into origins of COVID; last year’s suicide bombing in Afghanistan that killed 13 military personnel; DOJ investigation into threats at school board meetings
“We need more storage. We’ve been saying this for quite some time, have been able to work our way through it and get another biological opinion to get more water flowing down in a more efficient way. I think at this moment it’s not just storage. We need more water resources. We should look at desalination.”
- In the January 6 Committee of the House of Representatives:
“This committee is not a legitimate committee. It’s the first time in Congressional history that the minority has no right to nominate anyone for it,” McCarthy said. “It’s a purely political committee designed to do politics and I think that’s wrong.”
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