Wave of Republican Congressional Retirements in California

A year ago I would have thought the GOP had a strong chance to retain the House this year.

Not now.

Too much has happened, and with this wave of GOP retirements in Congress, Democrats have got to be fired up for massive gains in the November elections. This is more than tsunami territory, as far as I can see. This is going to be an earthquake with world shattering implications. Worlds are colliding!

Roll Call called it in September, "House Retirement Tide Is Coming."

Ed Royce of Buena Park announced he was retiring on Monday. And now today we have the news of Darrell Issa's retirement. These two aren't noobs. They're powerful GOP congressional veterans. Plus, Royce has a huge war chest of over $3 million in the bank, and Issa's independently wealthy --- so campaign finance isn't the issue. It's two things: (1) Donald Trump's iconoclastic presidency has shaken up American politics and many Republicans will be the target of ire as surrogates for all kinds of voter disenchantment with politics, and (2) California's formerly solid Republican majority in Orange County is history. Both Royce and Issa are running in districts that Hillary Clinton won, and while Royce won reelection in 2016 with 57 percent of the vote, Issa won just 50.3 percent and is considered the most vulnerable Republican in Congress.

California's a one-party Democrat state. It's a basket-case state, for that matter. Conservatives talking about a right-wing or populist rebellion in the once-Golden State are deluding themselves. Cast off the dead weight and fight battles elsewhere. As noted many times, I'd move out of state if I could right now, but I've got at least 10 more years at my job. I'll be thinking about greener, more conservative/libertarian pastures over the next few years, and then we'll see...

In any case, at the Los Angeles Times, "Rep. Darrell Issa to retire."

And more at Roll Call, "Darrell Issa Retiring, Opening Up Competitive House Seat."

More at Memorandum.