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McCarthy heads for the congressional exit
Kevin McCarthy will begin the new year with the end of his career in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Bakersfield Republican announced Wednesday that he won’t seek reelection and he’ll retire by the end of 2023. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, he said he plans to “serve America in new ways.”
McCarthy had a stellar rise in state and national GOP politics over the last two decades. But it was his historic fall that he might become best known for. In October, a contingent of his fellow Republicans revolted, siding with Democrats to oust him from his position as “mayor of hell” — also known as speaker of the House.
“His departure opens the door for what could become a contested House race in California’s heavily Republican Central Valley,” Times reporter Erin B. Logan wrote, adding that his exit marks the latest downturn in the “steep decline of California’s political power in Washington.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein died in September and Rep. Nancy Pelosi stepped down from the House’s Democratic leadership at the start of 2023.
And as reporter Cameron Joseph noted in a recent story for The Times, McCarthy isn’t heading for the exit alone.
“With California’s Dec. 8 filing deadline to decide on running for reelection just days away, seven Golden State members of Congress have opted to leave — with four retiring outright rather than run for another office,” he wrote.
That group includes Tony Cárdenas (D-Pacoima), Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Menlo Park) and Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-Norwalk). Then there’s Reps. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), Katie Porter (D-Irvine) and Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), who are leaving the House in hopes of working on the other side of the Capitol, running for former Sen. Feinstein’s seat.
California’s notably conservative 20th Congressional District includes portions of Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties in the San Joaquin Valley, covering some of the state’s lucrative farmland and oil sites. So who might jump into the race to lead it?
The Times’ Phil Willon and Mackenzie Mays put together a list of potential Republican contenders, including state Assemblymember Vince Fong, state Sen. Shannon Grove and Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig. A couple of Democrats are considered “wild cards & long shots.”
McCarthy’s retirement could be felt in the GOP’s wallet. McCarthy helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for Republican campaigns last election cycle, Erin noted.
He was also good at spending money too, as detailed in a Times investigation from Paul Pringle and Adam Elmahrek published Thursday morning.
Over roughly 10 years, McCarthy’s Majority Committee PAC “shelled out more than $1 million on hotels, private air travel and eateries, according to Federal Election Commission records.
“That’s more than double the combined total spent by the leadership PACs of the seven other lawmakers who’ve held the top House and Senate positions for their parties during all or part of that period, according to the Times analysis,” Paul and Adam noted.
You can read more here about McCarthy’s spending and the growing concerns by good government advocates that leadership PACs are being used as personal slush funds.
More about Kevin McCarthy:
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And finally … from our archives
On this day 82 years ago, Japanese bombers launched a surprise military strike on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, precipitating the United States’ entry into World War II.
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