Hakeem Jeffries: Nancy Pelosi’s likely successor formally declares Democratic leadership bid

Republicans are set to hold an extremely slim majority in the House of Representatives

Nancy Pelosi steps down as Democratic leader after losing House

With the Republican Party projected to win a slim majority in the US House of Representatives and Nancy Pelosi stepping down from the Democratic leadership, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries has officially declared he is running for his party’s top job – and so far, he is unopposed.

In an emotional address on the House floor on Thursday, Ms Pelosi said lawmakers “must move boldly into the future” and remain “open to fresh possibilities.” She will continue to serve her district as the congresswoman representing San Francisco, but she will not seek re-election to a leadership role.

Current House minority leader Kevin McCarthy has already cleared the first hurdle toward being elected House Speaker but with more than 30 of his members declining to back him.

The Republican was notably absent from Ms Pelosi’s announcement in the lower chamber – a rebuke after several other GOP figures turned out to join Democrats in applauding the long-running lawmaker.

When asked by reporters why he missed the speech, he claimed he “had meetings”.

Key points

• Nancy Pelosi will not seek re-election for Democratic leadership
• Republicans win control of the House
• Senate Republicans re-elect Mitch McConnell as minority leader
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer celebrates Democrats holding the Senate
• Kevin McCarthy clears first test in bid to become House speaker

[16 November 2022 11:30 · Andrew Naughtie]

Biden tempers expectations on abortion rights after midterms

President Joe Biden does not believe there are enough votes in the upcoming Congress to enshrine abortion protections into federal law following the pending results of midterm elections giving Republican lawmakers likely control of the House of Representatives.

Alex Woodward has the story.

[16 November 2022 12:00 · Andrew Naughtie]

McConnell gives election post-mortem

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a post-mortem of the midterm elections to reporters on Tuesday.

He said the Republican Party underperformed with independents and moderates because their impression of many in the party was “chaos, negativity, excessive attacks” that “frightened” voters.

Senator McConnel said he never predicted a red wave because the polling didn’t indicate there was one.

“We were not dealing with issues in a responsible way,” he said, also noting how the party was particularly crushed by independent voters in Arizona and New Hampshire.

[16 November 2022 12:30 · Andrew Naughtie]

Mastriano ridiculed for concession statement

Doug Mastriano has finally conceded Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race after refusing to do so for several days.

The Republican candidate released a lengthy statement on Twitter declaring that he had been “massively outspent” by out-of-state Democrats.

“Difficult to accept as the results are, there is no right course but to concede,” said the candidate for governor, with no hint of understanding the inherent irony in that statement.

John Bowden reports.

[16 November 2022 13:00 · Andrew Naughtie]

MSNBC reporter launches blistering takedown of Kari Lake’s ‘Trumpism’

Fresh off the trail of covering Republican Kari Lake’s failed bid for the governor’s mansion in Arizona, an MSNBC reporter did not mince his words when discussing the election-denying candidate’s campaign.

Johanna Chisholm reports on what Vaughn Hillyard said.

[16 November 2022 13:30 · Andrew Naughtie]

McCarthy’s slim House majority presents an ‘almost impossible task’

As the Democrats’ chances to hold the House majority narrow, the floodgates for Kevin McCarthy’s own personal hell are about to open. A thin majority will mean Mr McCarthy is more of a prisoner to archconservatives like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert (who looks increasingly more likely to win her race in Colorado’s 3rd district).

To get a better idea of what’s going to happen for House Republicans, The Independent spoke with Brendan Buck. Mr Buck is familiar with the internal GOP strife as he served as Speaker John Boehner’s press secretary and a counsellor to Speaker Paul Ryan, during which both men had to manage cantankerous right-wing factions. Now Mr McCarthy has to actually lead the Republican conference in the House if he wins the majority.

“This is an almost impossible task,” said Mr Buck. “You can largely throw any type of legislative agenda out the window, and if you’re looking at it in the positive way.”

Eric Garcia has the interview.

[16 November 2022 14:00 · Andrew Naughtie]

ICYMI: Greene endorses idea of GOP “civil war"

Marjorie Taylor Greene says she is ready unleash a civil war in the Republican Party after its poor showing in the midterms.

The Georgia congresswoman also indicated she would throw her support behind House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in an interview with Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast.

“In order for us to succeed, we’re going to be forced to work together. That means we’re going to fight it out,” Ms Greene said.

“And I’m telling you, I’ve always said I’m not afraid of the civil war in the GOP. I lean into it.”

Bevan Hurley writes:

[16 November 2022 14:30 · Alex Woodward]

Election deniers overwhelmingly failed in 2022. The candidates who beat them warn the threat isn’t over

Republican candidates who rejected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election lost every battleground statewide race for offices that control how elections are run, a major blow to Donald Trump’s movement to install loyalists in critical state-level positions that could do in 2024 what he failed to do in 2020.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected candidates who amplified the former president’s bogus narrative that the election was stolen from him, or marred by Democratic fraud or malfeasance, and pledged antidemocratic agendas that would upend the electoral process to ensure GOP victories.

“Trying to delegitimise democracy is not a winning strategy,” said Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state Jocelyn Benson. “But we still have a presidential election [in 2024] in which we anticipate a lot of the same challenges.”

[16 November 2022 15:00 · Alex Woodward]

A handful of Kari Lake supporters protest her loss in the Arizona governor’s race

Fewer than 20 people supporting Kari Lake for Arizona governor attended a protest at the Arizona state capitol on Tuesday, with some waving flags emblazoned with pro-Trump messages and “SOS”.

The far-right Republican candidate lost the race to Katie Hobbs, who is leading by roughly 17,000 votes, according to the latest count from the secretary of state’s office.

[16 November 2022 15:30 · Alex Woodward]

Status update: Republicans are one win away from control of the House

Republicans have captured at least 217 seats in the House in midterm elections, a net gain of eight seats, putting them on track to the 2018 seats needed for majority control of the lower chamber of Congress.

Democratic candidates have won 209 seats, losing eight.

Nine seats are still to be determined. Results continue to be processed and major news networks will make their projections based on vote counts and outstanding ballots.

View more

[16 November 2022 16:00 · Alex Woodward]

ICYMI: Rick Scott will challenge Mitch McConnell for control of Senate caucus

Senator Rick Scott will challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for control of Republican leadership in the upper chamber, a move that comes days after Mr McConnell’s caucus failed to unseat a 50-vote Democratic majority in the midterm elections.

The Independent’s John Bowden reports: