Democratic state Sen. Tim Kennedy clinched victory in the special election for New York’s 26th Congressional District, effectively reducing the House Republican majority to a mere one-seat margin. Kennedy’s win could prove pivotal in balancing power and intensifying party-line struggles within the chamber.
“We need to elect pro-democracy, anti-MAGA candidates all around the country this November,” Kennedy said. His victory occurred amid heightened Republican Party tensions brought on by MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) motion to remove Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
The motion by the polarizing Greene to remove Speaker Johnson amplified the deep-seated divisions within GOP leadership, even among supporters of the twice-impeached and four-times indicted former President Donald Trump.
Both Greene and Johnson are far-right Trump supporters.
Greene has expressed anger over Johnson’s deals to keep the government open by agreeing with the White House and most members of Congress and the Senate to avoid a shutdown.
Further inciting her ire was Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who pledged his party’s support to back Johnson’s removal.
“Mike Johnson is not capable of that job. He has proven it over and over again,” Greene said. “Now we have [Democratic Leader] Hakeem Jeffries coming out over and over again, embracing Mike Johnson with a warm hug and a big wet sloppy kiss. They want to keep the band together.”
Support for Greene’s call to oust Johnson seems to have little support from Republicans, and the GOP caucus appears in disarray.
Another far-right MAGA Republican, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, expressed frustrations with Democrats’ influence in the Republican-led House, going so far as to say she didn’t care if Jeffries won the speakership.
“We are passing the Democratic agenda each and every day that we’re here,” Boebert said. “We have a slim majority in the House, and everything’s being passed overwhelmingly with Democrats’ support, so it makes no difference to me if it’s Hakeem Jeffries as speaker or Mike Johnson right now.”
Meanwhile, Kennedy will spend the remainder of the year serving in Congress. This fall, he will run in the general election against Republican attorney Anthony Marecki. Following New York Republican George Santos’ expulsion from Congress, a fiercely contested special election in the Long Island area earlier this year had already decreased the GOP’s thin House advantage. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, won that campaign. “[Washington] is chaotic and dysfunctional,” Kennedy said, but vowed, Democrats would eventually fix it.
