Nancy Pelosi won a fourth non-consecutive term to serve as House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, both received over 200-plus votes to become House Speaker.

After all the votes were counted Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker. Kevin McCarthy will serve as Republican leader.

After serving for 17 years in charge of the House Democrats, Pelosi ran unopposed in her election. She is the first woman to be speaker, leading the House from 2006 to 2011, and since the Democrats took back the House in 2018.

With a razor-thin margin of victory of just seven votes, the 80-year-old held on for what will be her last term in office as a member of the House. She has said she won’t seek another term.

McCarthy, if history holds true, will be Speaker after the mid-terms change the house majority. It is most often the case that the party holding the majority in the House typically loses the majority as a President is halfway through his term.

The House majority is center left. The far left clearly wants a youth movement in the democratic leadership in the House. Beltway insiders were saying Pelosi would have a challenge from the ranks. That did not happen.

Does California benefit from the Speaker and Republican Leader being from the same state? It’s possible but not a sure thing. The Speaker will have her hands full keeping the far left members and “The Squad” in her corner.

Californians Battle to be House Speaker [Opinion]

Kevin McCarthy

McCarthy is solidly supported by Republican House  members. He is credited with picking up seats and getting his party within just seven of taking over the House leadership. Political “experts” had the House Republicans getting hammered.  Both pollsters and pundits missed the mark yet again.

McCarthy, for the first time in history, recruited several women candidates for the House and most won. It was a record for the Republican Party to see so many women elected to the House. The GOP is diversifying its ranks in the nation’s capital and it’s long overdue.

This will be an action-packed week in politics. Georgia elects two senators in its election this week and fireworks are expected when the House and Senate cast electoral college votes.

The Georgia race could flip the scales in the U.S. Senate. Since Independents caucus with Democratic members of the Senate a two-seat pick up gives the majority to the Democrats.

Should the Republican Party hold on to Georgia’s two Senate seats, it may be a firewall to push back on Joe Biden’s polices in his term as President.

As we predicted the polls in Georgia are even. Some have the Republican candidates with a one-point lead. Ballots are pouring in on both sides. Expect a recount from losers if it is close.

Some of President-elect Biden’s stated priorities are: Income  tax increases, defense cuts, tougher environmental laws and regulations, possible changes to our federal court court systems, and some tighter restrictions to fight Covid-19 which could shut down the nation’s economy and put more Americans out of work.

Some of his nominations for cabinet posts will have a tough time in confirmation hearings. Most will sail through the process. This makes a majority for the Democratic Senate job one.

Joe Biden is set to take office on Jan. 20, 2021.

 

 

Image Sources

  • Nancy Pelosi: Shutterstock