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Capitol View®
Brett Neely

MN Republicans relieved House leadership race over

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WASHINGTON - A little more than a week after the surprise defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a primary election, Republican members of the U.S. House Thursday picked a new Majority Leader and Whip in a rare midyear leadership shuffle.

The current Majority Whip, Kevin McCarthy of California, won the backing of the GOP to take Cantor's slot while Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise ascended to the Whip slot, the primary vote counter of the Republican caucus.

Minnesota's three House Republicans were relieved to have the election past.

"These leadership elections are very, very  tough on us as individuals because they're very personal," said 2nd District Rep. John Kline. "You've got to make a decision between two good friends."

"It was a very fair fight. It was civil. There wasn't acrimony or behind the scenes backstabbing," said 6th District Rep. Michele Bachmann.

In the case of 3rd District Rep. Erik Paulsen, it was especially personal. When he's in Washington, Paulsen shares an apartment with Scalise and two other Republican congressmen. It's about a mile away from the Capitol.

"He's kind of a slob," joked Paulsen about Scalise. "It seems like I'm the one who's always tidying up after everybody."

Paulsen called the apartment a "crash pad" and said he, Scalise, Texas Rep. Kevin Brady and Illinois Rep. John Shimkus mostly watch sports together and rarely talk politics.

Conservatives inside and outside of Congress grumbled that McCarthy wasn't sufficiently conservative and that the other top leadership slots were occupied by members who didn't represent the South, now the biggest bloc of Republican seats in the House. Scalise, who also heads the conservative Republican Study Committee, solves both problems for the party.

Bachmann called Scalise a "fresh face and a fresh voice" for House GOP leadership and said that the party was now unified again ahead of midterm elections in November.

But she noted that Republicans would have to go through this process again after the elections. While Bachmann is retiring after this term won't be taking part in the next leadership race, she suggested bigger changes at the top could be in store for the future.

"This election does open all the member's eyes that maybe the results won't be inevitable after the next election," said Bachmann.