GOP/POLITICAL FIGURES: “Rep. Ed Royce will not seek reelection this year, the California Republican announced Monday.
Royce, the powerful chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, becomes the latest committee chairman to forego a reelection bid in what is shaping up to be a challenging midterm election for the GOP…
In total, seven GOP committee chairs are either retiring or — in the case of Tennessee’s Diane Black, the former chair of the Budget Committee — seeking another office.
Royce, first elected in 1992, was facing a difficult — and expensive — campaign for a 14th term. He has already drawn a half-dozen Democratic challengers, who raised more than $4.1 million combined in the third quarter of 2017. Two Democrats — Andy Thorburn, a health insurance executive, and Gil Cisneros, a former naval officer and lottery winner — are self-funding much of their bids, while Mai Khanh Tran, a physician, has been endorsed by EMILY’s List. Sam Jammal, a former Obama administration official, is also a contender in the June 5, all-party primary.
Democrats and labor allies were celebrating within minutes of Royce’s announcement. The Democratic Congressional Campaign called Royce’s retirement ‘another sign of Democrats’ growing momentum in 2018,’ DCCC spokesman Drew Godinich said in a statement.”
–Elena Schneider, “House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Royce to retire,” Politico, Jan. 8, 2018 07:43pm