Julia Letlow Sworn In As Member of Congress After Special Election for Late Husband’s Seat

Republican Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) was sworn-in Wednesday as a Member of Congress, shrinking the Democrats’ already slim majority.

The Congresswoman was sworn-in Wednesday after she won a special election in late March to fill a seat originally won by her late husband, Luke Letlow, who passed away late last year from complications with the Chinese coronavirus. The special election was a 12-way race for the 5th District. Letlow defeated her opponents with a huge margin of 62 percent of the vote. This brings the total number of Republican women in Congress to 31.

This win gives the Republicans a huge advantage with 212 seats in the House, catching up to Democrats’ 218 seats which a very slim majority for a controlling party, as reported by Fox News.

This brings added pressure to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as she plans to try and pass parts of her partisan agenda because tied votes in the Houe fail, unlike in the Senate where the Vice President could be called upon to break a tie.  Fox News also reported that the “Democrats cannot lose more than two votes from their party to pass legislation if the GOP fully opposes them.”

Currently, more special elections are upcoming for former Representatives who left to join President Joe Biden’s administration, such as Cedric Richmond, now as senior adviser and director of the Office of Public Liaison for Biden, as well as Debra Haaland, who was confirmed as interior secretary, and Marcia Fudge, who was confirmed as Housing and Urban Development secretary.

There will also be a special election for Rep. Ronald Wright (R-TX), who died from coronavirus complications.

The Republican campaign arm, National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), announced last week they have a massive fundraising haul for the first quarter of 2021 as the campaign arm gears up to take back the majority. They reportedly raised $33.7 million in the first three months of the year.