WASHINGTON \u2014 The House\u2019s only black Republican has become the latest GOP lawmaker to say he won\u2019t seek reelection next year, jolting the party\u2019s efforts to appeal to minority voters and wounding its already uphill chances of regaining House control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rep. Will Hurd, a moderate Texan who\u2019s clashed with President Donald Trump over race and immigration, used an evening tweet to announce he would not seek re-election next year. That made him the ninth House Republican to say they will depart \u2014 the sixth in just over a week \u2014 and gives Democrats a strong shot to capture a district that borders Mexico and has a majority Hispanic population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd\u2019s exit put the GOP ahead of its pace when 34 of its members stepped aside before the last elections \u2014 the party\u2019s biggest total since at least 1930. It also underscored how Republicans are struggling to cope with life as the House minority party, today\u2019s razor-sharp partisanship and Trump\u2019s tantrums and tweets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republicans say they don\u2019t expect this election\u2019s retirements to reach last year\u2019s levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But their more ominous problem is embodied by Hurd, one of several junior lawmakers to abruptly abandon vulnerable seats and a visible symbol of the GOP\u2019s attempt to shed its image as a bastion for white males. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The recent spate of departures puts perhaps four GOP seats in play for 2020 and suggests an underlying unease within the party about the hard realities of remaining in Congress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a mood of tremendous frustration with the lack of accomplishment,\u201d Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Mich., said in an interview this week, days after stunning colleagues when he said he\u2019s leaving after just two House terms. \u201cWhy run around like a crazy man when the best you can hope is maybe you\u2019ll see some change at the margins?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mitchell, 62, who said he originally intended to serve longer, blamed leaders of both parties for using the nation\u2019s problems \u201cas a means to message for elections\u201d instead of solving them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also expressed frustration with Trump\u2019s tweets last month telling four Democratic congresswomen of color \u2014 including his Michigan colleague, Rep. Rashida Tlaib \u2014 to \u201cgo back\u201d to their home countries, though all are American. The tweet was \u201cbelow the behavior of leadership that will lead this country to a better place,\u201d Mitchell said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement, Hurd did not mention Trump but pointedly said he\u2019d held onto his seat \u201cwhen the political environment was overwhelmingly against my party.\u201d The former CIA operative said he was pursuing opportunities in technology and national security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd, 41, was a leader in a failed bipartisan effort last year, opposed by Trump, to help young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally stay in this country. He was also among just four Republicans to last month back a Democratic condemnation of Trump\u2019s \u201cgo back\u201d insult as racist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just a day earlier, Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, also said he won\u2019t seek reelection, which he attributed to his loss of a leadership role atop his beloved House Agriculture Committee. Conaway, 71, represents a central Texas district that is safe Republican territory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republicans say it can be demoralizing to be in the minority in the House, where the chamber\u2019s rules give the majority party almost unfettered control. That leaves them with little ability to accomplish much, even as they must continue the constant fundraising that consumes many lawmakers\u2019 hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019ve been in the majority, it\u2019s no fun to be in the minority,\u201d said veteran Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But other Republicans in the Capitol and outside it \u2014 several speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid alienating colleagues \u2014 say the frustration runs deeper. They describe worries that they won\u2019t win back the majority in 2020, which would mean two more years of legislative futility, and exasperation over Trump\u2019s outbursts, including his racist tweets taunting the four Democratic women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe White House isn\u2019t helping the atmosphere up to this point for these guys. They\u2019re having to answer every day for things they didn\u2019t say or do,\u201d said former Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. \u201cThat\u2019s not a good place to be.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michael McAdams, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the retirements are \u201cwhat happens this time of year.\u201d He said Republicans are \u201cin a prime position to pick up seats and recapture the majority.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In another blow to the GOP\u2019s reach for diversity, it is losing two of the mere 13 House Republicans who are women. Rep. Martha Roby of Alabama, 43, like Michigan\u2019s Mitchell, is vacating a deeply red seat, while the retirement of Susan Brooks, 58, could put her Indiana seat at risk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reps. Rob Woodall of Georgia, 49, and Pete Olson of Texas, 56, would have faced difficult races had they run for reelection. Their departures are unhelpful for a party that must gain at least 18 seats to win the majority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In next year\u2019s House contest, history favors Democrats, who have a 235-197 majority with two vacancies and one independent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last time a president ran for reelection and any party gained at least 18 House seats \u2014 the minimum Republicans need to take over \u2014 was 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson\u2019s landslide netted Democrats a 37-seat pickup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Party control of the chamber hasn\u2019t changed during a presidential election since 1952, when Republican Dwight Eisenhower won the White House and majority Democrats lost the House. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the practical side, the House\u2019s 62 freshmen Democrats and the party\u2019s other vulnerable lawmakers have energetically raised money for their reelection campaigns. Even first-termers in GOP-friendly districts in Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City and Charleston, South Carolina, have banked significant early funds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The GOP\u2019s rules for seniority are also a factor. Texas\u2019 Conaway and fellow retiree Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, will both exhaust the self-imposed six-year limit the House GOP allows for lawmakers to chair a committee or serve as its top Republican. Bishop, 68, will be ending his run atop the Natural Resources Committee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another retiring Republican, Alabama Rep. Bradley Byrne, 64, is running for Senate and leaves behind a solid Republican district. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The recent spate of departures puts perhaps four GOP seats in play for 2020 and suggests an underlying unease within the party about the hard realities of remaining in Congress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[104,106,31,15,68,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3774],"class_list":["post-23354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acquisition-update","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-management","category-leadership","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QMDAFHG2A5HILHMB6C3MXFWTOM","arc_canonical_url":"\/management\/leadership\/2019\/08\/02\/vexed-with-minority-status-and-rancor-gop-lawmakers-retire\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n