Kevin McCarthy: Mike Garcia, Tom Tiffany Victories ‘Good Indication’ for Red Wave in November

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said during a press conference on Tuesday that Rep. Tom Tiffany’s (R-WI) and Mike Garcia’s (R-CA) elections are a “good indication” for Republicans’ chances of taking back the House in November.

Garcia, a fighter pilot, defeated Democrat assemblywoman Christy Smith and took back California’s 25th Congressional District, which serves as the first time the GOP won the seat in 22 years. Tiffany won Wisconsin’s Seventh Congressional District, which Democrats fought hard to take back after former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) announced that he would retire.

McCarthy said that this serves as a good sign for Republicans’ ability to take back the House.

He said that Garcia and Tiffany “have a good indication of what November is going to be like. If you look in California, we have not flipped a Democrat seat in more than 22 years, since 1998.”

Republicans need to retake net 17 congressional districts to regain the House majority. The GOP has targeted 30 congressional districts that President Donald Trump won during the 2016 presidential election but that House Democrats flipped during the 2018 midterm elections.

McCarthy said that there have been special elections that have served as early indicators of a party’s ability to retake the House majority. Republicans won a special election that they had not controlled and then flipped the House back to the GOP, whereas then-candidate and now Rep. Conor Lamb (D-PA) won a special election, and Democrats flipped the House in 2018.

McCarthy said, “Just as we’ve watched special elections before, give us an early indicator of what will happen in November, I believe these two people standing behind me, give me the best indication that come November, there’ll be a change in this House and America will be in a much stronger position.”