House freshman GOP class brings diversity, zeal
WASHINGTON – Meet the new House Republicans.
There’s Mia Love from Utah, the first black Republican woman to serve in the House.
At 30, Elise Stefanik of upstate New York is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
Carlos Curbelo is the son of Cuban exiles in Florida.
“We’re back with youth, we’re back with diversity and we’re back with women,” Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said after Tuesday’s elections, when House Republicans increased their majority to levels not seen in decades.
But Republicans also are welcoming some vocal new members on the right; some are replacing more moderate GOP lawmakers who retired. These new members could increase the ranks of tea party conservatives who have created persistent trouble for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and give him fresh headaches just when he and other GOP leaders are determined to show they can deliver after taking back the Senate.
In Wisconsin, a longtime and low-key Republican, Tom Petri, is being replaced by firebrand state lawmaker Glenn Grothman, who referred to protesters at the state Capitol in Madison as “a bunch of slobs” and has opposed equal-pay legislation because “you could argue that money is more important for men.”
In Georgia, Jody Hice, a Baptist minister and conservative talk show host, has said that being gay is a lifestyle that “enslaves” people and that he doesn’t have a problem with a woman being in politics as long as she’s “within the authority of her husband.”
Ryan Zinke, a former Navy SEAL elected in Montana, has gotten attention for calling Hillary Rodham Clinton “the Antichrist.”
“Do I really believe that she is the Antichrist? That answer would be ‘no,’ ” Zinke said in an interview. “But I do get a little emotional about Benghazi, and I like the rest of America want answers.”
For Boehner, his new Republican colleagues are part of an empowered House majority on track to increase its ranks from 234 to at least 244 lawmakers – the highest total since the Harry Truman administration.
The bigger numbers should give Boehner more room to maneuver as he tries to assemble the 218 votes needed to pass legislation. But it’s clear that the most zealous wing of the party – sometimes called the “hell no caucus” – that repeatedly has forced Boehner to pull legislation such as a farm bill from the floor, toughen immigration policy or force a government shutdown over the president’s health law will still be a force to reckon with.
Boehner laughed off questions about some of the incendiary comments from newly elected lawmakers.
“Yes, we have some new members who’ve made some statements, I’ll give you that,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill this past week. “But when you look at the vast majority of the new members that are coming in here, they’re really solid members. … We’ve done a very good job of recruiting good candidates, and we’re going to have a very good crop of good members.”