CHERI BUSTOS

Two of Congress’ staunchest conservatives repelled more centrist challengers to lock up Republican nominations on Tuesday.

In the small Illinois city of Galesburg, people aren’t talking about the arguments consuming the nation’s capital.

There are signs of Democratic fatigue in Iowa, a state viewed for decades as a true political battleground.

Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos of Illinois says she will not seek reelection next year.

The party's House majority will be as meager as 222-213 next year, the tightest partisan gap in two decades. Maloney worked on Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign and joined the White House after Clinton's 1996 reelection. “Those of us in the LGBT community have seen the system work, and it has worked because we worked,” Maloney said. In 2018 he sought the House campaign committee chairmanship but withdrew when he was hospitalized for an infection. Farrell runs a consulting firm that he says was blacklisted by the campaign committee under Bustos after it helped candidates challenging Democratic incumbents.

Scott, 67, has been quarantining at home all week after coming into contact in Florida on Nov. 13 with someone who subsequently tested positive. Scott, a Republican, said he was “feeling good” despite the mild symptoms and would be working at his home in Naples. “I want to remind everyone to be careful and do the right things to protect yourselves and others,” Scott said in a statement. House members could be regularly tested in the Capitol starting this week, but there is still no testing protocol for senators. Ashley Hinson, 37, said she would participate in this week's House orientation virtually as she quarantined with her family in Iowa.

Against that backdrop, many House Democrats have for years impatiently insisted it's time for fresh leadership. To become speaker again, Pelosi will need more votes than House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who’s likely to garner nearly unanimous GOP support. Though she's likely to succeed, it won’t be simple because when Pelosi was elected speaker in January 2019, 15 Democrats opposed her. Pelosi came to Congress in 1987 and has led House Democrats, both as the minority and majority party, ever since 2003. Pelosi has won wide acclaim among Democrats as a leading Trump foe in battles over impeachment, immigration and health care.

By retaining the House, Democrats will control the chamber for four consecutive years for only the second time since 1995, when Republicans ended 40 years of Democratic dominance. As the bad news sunk in, Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., who led House Democrats' campaign committee, announced Monday she wouldn't seek another term leading that organization. Republicans have been heartened by the House results, which many believe position them for a strong run for the majority in the 2022 elections. Illustrating that, the Blue Dog Coalition of the most conservative House Democrats, whose membership has dwindled in recent years, lost at least six of its roughly two dozen members. On the Republican side, the conservative House Freedom Caucus was hoping to grow from its roughly 30 members.

WASHINGTON – The chairwoman of House Democrats' campaign committee said Monday she won't seek the post again for the next Congress. Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos' decision comes after her party unexpectedly lost seats in last week's elections. Even before her announcement, several Democrats said privately that Bustos would have little support to retain her post, which is an elective position chosen by House Democrats. Her win came after an eleventh-hour $1 million in expenditures for her by the House Majority PAC, which was resented by some Democrats. House Democrats currently have a 232-197 advantage, plus one independent and five vacancies.

“They were all wrong," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters about Democrats' assumptions of adding to their House numbers. She declared that Democrats had won the House majority, which seemed highly likely but hadn’t been officially determined by The Associated Press. Democrats lost a majority Hispanic district in West Texas they expected to win after the GOP incumbent retired. In a district between Austin and San Antonio, freshman GOP Rep. Chip Roy withstood a challenge from Democrat Wendy Davis. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and the three other members of the so-called squad of young progressive women of color were easily reelected.

Though they seemed likely to retain House control, their performance was an unexpected disappointment for the party, which hoped for modest gains of perhaps 15 seats. Democrats control the House 232-197, with five open seats and one independent. By retaining House control, Democrats would mark only the second time in a quarter century that they've led the chamber for two consecutive two-year Congresses. She declared that Democrats had won the House majority, which seemed highly likely but hadn’t been officially declared by The Associated Press. “House Republicans have outperformed all expectations," said Dan Conston, who heads the Congressional Leadership Fund, a committee aligned with House GOP leaders that provides millions to Republican candidates.

In this Oct. 22, 2020, photo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)WASHINGTON – Speaker Nancy Pelosi once predicted she’d have the House majority won by November — of 2019. Pelosi said she feels so confident Democrats will keep the House this election, she’s already preparing to win the next one in 2022. Pelosi rose as the face of party, the House impeached the president and emboldened Democrats are on the march to pick up House seats deep into Trump country. Pelosi notes experts have suggested Democrats will pick up between five and 15 House seats.

In the Republican-leaning California 48th Congressional District in Orange County, Republican challenger Michelle Steel has talked about taxes, while Rouda has focused on health care and prescription drug costs. The pattern is similar outside Philadelphia, where GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick accuses Democratic challenger Christina Finelo of supporting police defunding. Wagner has voted for bills that would have ended the coverage that former President Barack Obama’s health care law guarantees people with preexisting conditions. Freitas has said he thinks government intrusion into health care doesn't help. Democrats have run health care themed ads against Republicans in numerous states including Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska and Texas.

Democrats boast an ever-expanding target list that includes a half-dozen Republican seats in Texas plus others outside Atlanta, Cincinnati, Los Angeles and Phoenix. The tale of two districts 1,600 miles apart spotlights that many pivotal House races hinge on suburban voters. We're still on offense, said Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., who leads House Democrats' campaign organization. Since January 2019, all 29 Democrats in House districts Trump carried in 2016 have banked more money than their GOP challengers, usually by multiples. The same is true for all but two of the 24 other Democrats in seats Republicans said they'd pursue aggressively this year.

The health care law has been a flashpoint in American politics since its enactment a decade ago. Trying to take away health care in the middle of a pandemic is like throwing out the sandbags during a hurricane, said Jesse Ferguson, a longtime Democratic strategist. The pandemic has made clear for people how important it is to them that their neighbors have health care. And in March, it put $250,000 behind an ad attacking Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana on health care. She said the Democratic health care message would be, Democrats are the party of health care.

The health care law has been a flashpoint in American politics since its enactment a decade ago. Trying to take away health care in the middle of a pandemic is like throwing out the sandbags during a hurricane, said Jesse Ferguson, a longtime Democratic strategist. The pandemic has made clear for people how important it is to them that their neighbors have health care. And in March, it put $250,000 behind an ad attacking Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana on health care. She said the Democratic health care message would be, Democrats are the party of health care.

On Thursday, the Trump administration is expected to file papers with the Supreme Court arguing that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. Trying to overturn a health insurance expansion providing coverage to about 20 million people was wrong any time, Pelosi said. It would financially squeeze some states that have refused to expand Medicaid under the health law. Democrats won control of the House in 2018 on their defense of the health care law. Republicans at all levels own this lawsuits attack on Americans health care, said the memo.

Citing its direct payments for immigrant workers in the U.S. illegally and other asinine provisions, the House Republican campaign arm all but promised attack ads. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll this month found 61% of suburban voters disapprove of Trump, little changed over three years. Garcia represents a nod toward diversity for the overwhelmingly white House GOP. Republicans have sought more female candidates, too, hoping to improve an embarrassing look: Just 13 of the 198 House Republicans are women, and two are retiring. All 53 remaining House Democrats in seats the GOP targeted last year, mostly from Trump-won districts and freshmen, have outraised their Republican challengers.