Fueled by historic midterm election wins, House Republicans saw no need to change their leadership direction Thursday as they re-elected Reps. John Boehner as speaker and Kevin McCarthy as majority leader.
Of the House Republican Conference’s top eight leaders, the only new face is Policy Committee Chairman Luke Messer of Indiana. Messer replaces Rep. James Lankford of Oklahoma, who last week was elected to the Senate.
“Americans have entrusted Republicans with the responsibility of leading both the House and Senate. We are humbled by this opportunity and take it seriously,” said Boehner after House Republicans met behind closed doors to pick their leaders for the 114th Congress — which begins in early January. “We have an opportunity to do some important things in the months ahead.”
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Greg Walden of Oregon, who led fundraising and candidate-recruiting efforts for the House Republicans’ successful midterms, also was re-elected to another two-year term.
“From Maine to American Samoa, literally from sunrise to sunset, Republicans were elected all across the country,” Walden said.
House Republicans gained at least 15 seats over Democrats, with a few races still too close to officially call. But Walden said he expects the party to add to their margin two years from now.
“We know ’16 will be a different election year. We start right in,” he said. “We’ll have a new red zone. We’ve got opportunities to gain seats even on top of what we have. So our mission will be to retain and gain, and we think we can do that.”
The others re-elected to House GOP leadership positions are Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, Conference Vice Chairwoman Lynn Jenkins of Kansas and Conference Secretary Virginia Foxx of North Carolina.
Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri was elected as the conference’s sophomore representative, while Mimi Walters of California was voted as the freshman representative.
