Thread by @McCormackJohn

THREAD

One thing that’s striking about the Republicans who have flipped House seats so far: They are all women, minorities, or veterans (in many cases two of three). nationalreview.com/2020/11/meet-t…

In Southern California, Young Kim and Michelle Steel flipped Democratic seats.

A Korean-American woman had never been elected to the U.S. Congress until Steel, Kim, and Democrat Marilyn Strickland of Washington won this November.

In Oklahoma City, Republican state senator Stephanie Bice flipped a Democratic seat, becoming the first Iranian-American ever elected to the U.S. Congress.

In New Mexico, Republican Yvette Harrell flipped a Democratic district, becoming the first Cherokee woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress.

In Salt Lake City, former NFL player Burgess Owens, who is African-American, is leading Democrat Ben McAdams by 1,998 votes.

In 2020, there was a lot of commentary about how Will Hurd, the only black Republican in the House, was retiring. If Owens wins, there will be two black Republicans in the House next year.

Byron Donalds won a competitive primary in Florida in August and easily held a GOP seat.

Speaking of Hurd, he won his district along the Rio Grande by 1.3 points in 2016 and 0.5 points in 2018.

In 2020, Republican Iraq war veteran Tony Gonzales won #TX23 by 3 points.

Trump made some of his biggest gains relative to 2016 with working-class Hispanic voters in Gonzales’s district. wsj.com/articles/how-d…

In South Florida, Trump and House GOP candidates made big gains.

Cuban-Americans Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez ousted, respectively, incumbent Democrats Donna Shalala and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

In New York City, Republican assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, the daughter of Greek and Cuban immigrants, won the Staten Island district represented by Democrat Max Rose.

Outside of Charleston, S.C., Re­publi­can Nancy Mace, the first woman to graduate from the Citadel, took back a seat from incumbent Democrat Joe Cunningham.

Republicans also picked up a few seats in the midwest: former state senator Michelle Fischbach won in Minnesota, state rep Ashley Hinson won in Iowa, and Iraq war veteran Peter Meijer won in Michigan (he took back the district represented by independent Justin Amash).

Some races haven't been called yet.

In Southern California, Mike Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot who flew 30+ combat missions over Iraq and the son of Mexican immigrants, is leading his Democratic opponent by 219 votes.

Earlier this year, Garcia beat a Republican backed by House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy in the primary and then in a special election surprised pundits by becoming the first Republican to take back a district carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016. nationalreview.com/2020/05/how-re…

“I was a first-generation immigrant,” Garcia told @NRO. “We were taught to work hard, we were taught to earn every dollar that we make, take pride in our country and be a patriot.”

The former fighter pilot said of his surprise victories this spring: “Sometimes being under the radar is the best way to get to the target area.” nationalreview.com/2020/05/how-re…

Strange to see which historic firsts offering living proof of the American dream get attention and which ones don’t.

https://twitter.com/jimgeraghty/status/1293300725334908930