California GOP on McCarthy Speaker bid: ‘The Republican Party is entirely dependent on him’
Eleven times over a span of three days, Bakersfield Congressman Kevin McCarthy failed to secure enough votes to be elected Speaker of the House. Thwarted by a far-right faction of his caucus, he is reportedly busy offering deals to appease his greatest critics.
But across the country in his home state, Republicans have a more existential worry, which is losing what they have in McCarthy: an eight-term representative from the agricultural capital of the country, a deeply-networked politician and, according to one GOP consultant, their “financial spigot.”
“The Republican party is entirely dependent on him,” said Mike Madrid. “It will become a shell of a shell of a shell [without him].”
The GOP can’t afford to lose its ‘fundraising powerhouse’
Harmeet Dhillon, former vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party, and a National Committeewoman of the Republican National Committee for California, acknowledges McCarthy’s success as a fundraiser for Republican campaigns, but thinks that the entire party needs a shake-up — and McCarthy is bearing the brunt of party discontent.
“It’s problematic when we see the kind of setbacks that we’ve seen,” she said Thursday, of the Republican Party’s lackluster performance in the midterm election last November.
The 20 Republican members of Congress who refuse to vote for McCarthy “have some very legitimate concerns about the process” and the state of the party at large, said Dhillon, who’s campaigning to replace Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in her own push to change things up.
“He happens to be the face of that debate because he’s seeking the speakership, but I don’t think he’s the source necessarily of those problems.”
McCarthy hasn’t been the Speaker of the House before, and that hasn’t dulled his ability or interest in raising money for the party and its candidates, Dhillon said. He withdrew his candidacy for the coveted position in 2015 after he suspected he couldn’t collect the 218 votes required — a far cry from the confidence he displayed earlier this week, when he moved into the Speaker’s office.
A rejection on this scale could seriously limit McCarthy’s ability to raise the kind of money he’s used to raising — and the party would suffer for it.
“Kevin McCarthy is a fundraising powerhouse and the most important Republican in California,” said Kambiz Akhavan, executive director of the University of Southern California Dornsife Center for the Political Future.
“If McCarthy cannot secure the Speaker position, his fundraising ability will certainly be more difficult and the relevance of California Republicans will subsequently diminish.”
Madrid agrees. By losing McCarthy’s leadership, the party would suffer not just financial consequences, but cultural ones, too, according to Madrid.
“Contested house races will always find financing. The real issue is the party’s capacity to try to be relevant and scramble back into relevancy,” Madrid said. “Without McCarthy, that relevancy goes away. [The GOP] refuses to adjust and evolve in the modern era. If he’s not able to pull this off — and it’s not looking good — they lose a huge amount of money.”
CA Lawmakers: ‘All of us are better off with a Central Valley speaker’
McCarthy’s California congressional colleagues are eager for an end to the chaos playing out this week. In McCarthy, they not only have the financial support of one of the best fundraisers in their party, but national representation of a region often overlooked.
“It’s a very powerful position. That would be very good for the Central Valley to have Kevin in there,” said newly-elected Rep. John Duarte, whose campaign received $10,000 from McCarthy’s PAC.
“We’ve got a big Central Valley caucus. The speaker has a lot to do with committee assignments, legislative priorities, appropriations — the speaker is a powerful role. For David Valadao, myself, Tom McClintock, Jim Costa, all of us are better off with a Central Valley speaker,” he said.
Valadao said earlier this week on Twitter that he will vote for McCarthy “no matter how many ballots it takes.”
Assemblyman Vince Fong, a former District Director for McCarthy who was elected to the legislature in 2016, said McCarthy is without a doubt “the most prepared” to be Speaker.
“Kevin and I call the Central Valley our home — to have someone from the region ... be our voice on such a large scale is tremendous. The Central Valley doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. Kevin being in that position is a voice that’s needed in the national debate and the debates happening in California.”
Fong “fully expects” that he’ll walk away with the position. But what if he doesn’t?
“That’s a hypothetical question that I don’t believe will happen ... I believe he’ll earn the support needed so that House GOP can focus on what everyone wants them to focus on — inflation, housing affordability, the border. I think Kevin is the best prepared to bring everyone together.”
Other lawmakers across the state are simply ready for the fiasco to be over.
The House drama, Rep. Doug LaMalfa said, “is a waste of people’s time who sent us here …. We look so inept so we can’t get this perfunctory job of getting the speakership done.”
It’s the rebels who will suffer from all this, LaMalfa, who represents California’s 1st District and much of the rural North State, said. “There’s a certain group of people who are good friends of mine but they’re really hurting themselves credibility-wise with colleagues.”
McCarthy, he said, “is a conservative guy. As far as the stuff we’ve got to get done and being the leader … he’s the guy who can lead all of us.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "California GOP on McCarthy Speaker bid: ‘The Republican Party is entirely dependent on him’."
