House GOP’s Majority to Shrink Further After Ohio Representative Announces Resignation

Bill Johnson

The Republican majority in the House of Representatives will decline to just two seats after the departure of Republican Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio, whose resignation was announced on Tuesday.

House Republicans’ four-seat majority declined by two members over the month of December following the expulsion of George Santos and the resignation of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from the chamber. Johnson’s departure, which he announced in November, will bring the number of Republicans in the chamber to 219, which is just one member more than the 218 seats in a full House that a party needs for a majority.

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Democrats Trying to Make Inroads in Republican-Controlled Sumner County

While every office in Sumner County in which a partisan election has been held is currently controlled by Republicans, Democrats are making a run at several seats during the 2022 election cycle.

On the August 4 combination ballot that includes the general election for county offices and a primary for state and federal offices, Democrats are vying for eight of the four dozen total seats electors will be voting on.

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New Poll Confirms Widespread Support for School Choice

Student raising hand in class

A majority of voters support school choice, a new poll from Echelon Insights shows.

Among more than 1,100 registered voters surveyed, 65% support school choice compared to 19% who oppose it, while 16% remain unsure.

The findings were consistent across party lines, with 75% of Republicans, 60% of independents, and 61% of Democrats saying they strongly or somewhat support school choice. Most voters in both parties agree parents should control all or some of the tax dollars they pay for education.

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Pelosi Outlines Agenda if Democrats Retake House

Projecting confidence about her party’s chances, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi outlined five of the top 10 agenda items Democrats will pursue if they retake the House in next month’s election. Lowering health care costs, rebuilding infrastructure, and running the House chamber with more transparency and openness are near the top of the Democratic agenda, Pelosi said during a talk Tuesday at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. Democrats would also prioritize giving legal status to young immigrants, known informally as Dreamers, and strengthening background checks on gun purchases, she said. Democrats need to gain 23 seats to take control of the House from Republicans, something surveys suggest is within reach. “If the election were today, we would win the majority,” Pelosi said. The California Democrat said she couldn’t predict whether the election would be a “wave” or “tsunami” for her party, but said she expected it to triumph, putting her in line to regain the speaker’s gavel. “I’ve never seen anything like the mobilization that is out there, the grass roots,” she said. One item not on Pelosi’s top 10 list: impeaching President Donald Trump. “I think impeachment, to use that word, is very divisive,” she said. Instead, she said House committees…

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Sen. Lamar Alexander Commentary: GOP Accomplishments

Lamar Alexander

by Senator Lamar Alexander   When I travel across Tennessee some people say, “I sure am glad I don’t have your job.” My answer is always, “I’m also glad you don’t have my job because I like my job, and I thank you for it.” And then someone will say, “Why don’t you guys ever do anything? What difference does a Republican majority make?” My answer is to hand them my Republican accomplishments card – a scorecard that lists what President Trump and a Republican Congress have been able to accomplish in the last 18 months. Best economy in 18 years, the biggest tax reform in 31 years, military support is the strongest it has been in 15 years, numerous regulations have been repealed, one confirmed Supreme Court justice and another Supreme Court nominee, 23 conservative U.S. Circuit Court judges confirmed, opened up Alaska to energy development after 38 years. We have a new National Labor Relations Board. We repealed Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty, repealed Dodd-Frank mortgage rules, passed legislation to improve veterans’ health care, and passed sanctions on Iran, Russia and North Korea. All of this in the last 18 months – the most important accomplishments by a conservative government in…

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Commentary: Tennessee Among the Nation’s Six Hottest US Senate Races

US Senate Bredesen and Blackburn

by CHQ Staff   As the first part of GOP primary election season wraps conservatives have reason to be optimistic about the chances of adding to our numbers in Mitch McConnell’s broken U.S. Senate. At a major meeting of conservative leaders yesterday, some of the movement’s best political minds handicapped the Senate races with us, and this is where we see the hottest conservative campaigns as of today. West Virginia: Conservative West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey emerged victorious in the hard-fought GOP primary and immediately jumped to a lead over incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin in the polls. Polls this far out from Election Day normally mean little, but when the incumbent is behind the challenger it is a good indication that West Virginia’s voters, who gave President Trump a 48 point advantage in the 2016 election have caught on to the fact that Manchin is a hypocrite, not a conservative. Tennessee: Conservative Representative Marsha Blackburn has the nomination to succeed retiring establishment Republican Senator Bob Corker. Blackburn, an excellent speaker and TV presence, is one of the House’s strongest voices on the pro-life agenda. Even better, when Corker started making noise about maybe un-retiring, Rep. Blackburn said “bring it on”…

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