A top Republican target in the California Senate has suddenly announced his retirement — and Democrats are hungrily eyeing his soon-to-be-open seat.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce announced he was retiring this year and thus became the 35th member of Congress opting out.
Sources on Capitol Hill and the National Republican Congressional Committee privately told Newsmax they expect this number to rise even further and possibly leave the party with 40 open seats to defend.
Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., who has publicly pondered retirement but has made nothing official, is reportedly poised to announce soon that he, too, is stepping down this year.
At 66 and after 26 years in the House, conservative stalwart Royce said in a statement late Monday afternoon that he wanted to “focus fully on the urgent threats facing our nation.” These, he explained, include the “brutal, corrupt, and dangerous regimes in Pyongyang and Tehran” and “Vladimir Putin’s continued efforts to weaponize information to fracture Western democracies.”
Although Royce’s 39th (Orange County) District was long considered a safe Republican harbor, Hillary Clinton carried it with more than 54 percent of the vote in 2016. This has heightened Democratic hopes of capturing the district in 2018, and several Democrats have already announced they would run regardless of what Royce did.
Golden State GOP sources suggested that the likely Republican nominee would be a well-known figure but someone who lived outside the district (legal under the Constitution). Among the names mentioned are State Sen. Janet Nguyen of Garden Grove and former Orange County GOP Chairman Scott Baugh. Both are considered strong conservatives.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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