FAIRHOPE – What a difference a month can make for Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C.
Heading into the summer, most political watchers anticipated that the GOP was set to lose at least the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterms. By mid-August, some Republicans thought losing the Senate was even a possibility.
However, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court associate justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh appeared to have been a game-changer for Republicans, and according to Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope), the public’s reaction to the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings could be enough for Republicans to hold on to both the House and the Senate.
In an interview with Yellowhammer News shortly before taking the stage to introduce Gov. Kay Ivey at a rally at Fairhope’s Oak Hollow Farms, Byrne said Republican voter enthusiasm has swung in the opposite direction.
“I got to tell you this, I was a little concerned about a month ago about enthusiasm,” Byrne said. “I don’t have that problem anymore. People are very enthusiastic. Look at the crowd we got in here tonight. Phone calls to my office have ramped up dramatically. There is truly a Kavanaugh effect going on here.”
“Republicans are beginning to pick up in the polls all over the country,” he added. “We got some races we were not competitive in, but now we are. We got some races that are pretty clear we’re going to win now that Democrats are beginning to pull out. We’re going to pick up at least one seat, maybe two in Minnesota. This race is far from over, and all the reports of Republicans losing the House are premature.”
Byrne said as of right now he thought the odds of Republicans maintaining the House were “better than 50/50.”
The Fairhope Republican was non-committal on the upcoming race to determine who would be the leader for Republicans after the midterms and fill the void left by the outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.)
“I told everybody I don’t want to talk about the Speaker race until we figure out what we’ve got as a result of this election,” he said. “Let’s stay focused on the election. We’ve got two candidates right now, Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan, they both happen to be good friends of mine. So, we’ll see where we are after the election. I hope they’re running for Speaker and not Minority Leader. That’s the big thing we want to avoid is if they’re running for minority leader. My anticipation is after we get back from the election, we’ll have a pretty spirited election.”
Byrne, however, did put in a plug for fellow Alabamian Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover), who is making a bid to lead the House Republican Policy Committee.
“My good friend Gary Palmer is running for chair of the Republican Policy Committee, an elected part of the leadership,” Byrne added. “I want to make sure we stay focused on helping Gary get across the finish line because that’s important.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and is the editor of Breitbart TV.
