©️ The Associated Press | Carolyn Kaster
While Vice President Harris and former President Trump crisscross the country in the final stretch of the presidential campaign, a second race is taking place — for GOP leadership in Congress.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is working to maintain — and expand on — his party’s razor-thin majority in the House. The Speaker has constantly been on the road this fall, crisscrossing the country to raise money and save a fragile GOP coalition. In an interview with The Hill’s Emily Brooks from the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, Johnson said he “probably underestimated” just how much work it would take to help the House GOP’s massive political operation.
“It’s been all-encompassing,” said Johnson, who recently reached the one-year mark as Speaker.
Johnson, who secured the gavel after a protracted leadership fight that followed the unprecedented ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has been tasked with leading a fractious House GOP conference with an excruciatingly small majority, and it could stay that way even if Republicans keep the lower chamber.
“It is not like herding cats. It is like exotic animals — and half of them have rabies in Washington. It’s a very dangerous job,” Johnson said to a crowd of about 90 people in the GOP’s field office in Bethlehem, Pa., where he was stumping for House candidate Ryan Mackenzie. “I spent half my day as the Speaker of the House, the other half as a mental health counselor. The solution is to grow that majority and to have people who can come in on day one and perform for the people who govern.”
That stump in Pennsylvania, eight days before Election Day, marked the 243rd city across 40 states the Speaker has visited in the last year. But the irony is that Johnson’s future is in question whether he succeeds or fails.
Many Republicans expect that Johnson wouldn’t be elected to leadership if the GOP is relegated to the House minority. If they do retain their ranks, Johnson’s ability to remain Speaker depends on the margin — Johnson would need the vast majority of Republicans to back him in a vote on the House floor.
But it’s Trump who could be the most influential factor in rallying rabble-rousers around a Speaker. And in a good sign for Johnson, the former president gave him a stamp of approval at his Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, predicting that Johnson will be around “for a long time.”
The Hill: A Democratic-aligned PAC and two other shadowy groups in a competitive House district are seeking to boost the chances of an independent candidate running against Republican incumbent Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.).
THE GOP LEADERSHIP FIGHT is also on in the Senate, where Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) is locked in a tough race with Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) as Senate Republican leader next year.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Steve Daines (Mont.), who is sitting the race out, is privately telling colleagues that he will support Thune, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports. Thune has long been considered a front-runner to replace McConnell, but several GOP sources told Axios there is serious momentum behind Cornyn’s bid.
With polls showing that Republicans are expected to win back the Senate majority next week, Daines will get a lot of the credit as chair of the Senate Republican campaign arm, especially since the pivotal race is in his home state of Montana between former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy and Democratic Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.).
Notably, both Thune and Cornyn have had rocky relationships with Trump but have worked hard to smooth them over. It’s unclear whether Trump will weigh in on the race at all. But MAGA loyalist Laura Loomer seemed to indicate interest from the former president’s camp with a Wednesday post on the social platform X.
“We the loyal MAGA BASE are going to revolt against a Cornyn or Thune leadership installation,” Loomer wrote.