Mike Gallagher Calls It Quits

[HikerGuy83]

Considered a rising star in the Party, he's not running for re-election.

He voted against the impeachment of doofus.  Of course, this brought the usual cry of "Primary him".

Whatever.

His loss is a big one in my book.  He's smart and apparently very good on National Security (oh, I can hear the cat calls now).

But that is what you get when a system works such that in the Macro it's a good deal, but one micro mis-step and it's all pitchforks and fire.

Saying that "Congress is no place to grow old", I suspect he's got other reasons. I doubt he's worried about a primary.  I just have to wonder if these guys want to get their names off of the biggest S-show in the history of the country.

Of course, you don't see Adam Schiff stepping down (which is toooooo bad).  He is a major star of the show.

Green Bay will send another conservative.  But we lose that experience.  And it's always a wild card.  We'll find out.

In the end, I think it's a bummer he's leaving.

[HikerGuy83]

https://www.wsj.com/politics/mike-gallagher-retires-quits-congress-00dae773

The 39-year-old former Marine Corps intelligence officer cast the decision as personal, saying that he had always planned to treat his service in Congress as “a deployment, not a career.” His departure will further erode the ranks of GOP committee chairs, following decisions by other Republican chairs not to see another term.

“Eight years is a long deployment, and it’s been a hell of a deployment,” Gallagher said in an interview. A married father of two, Gallagher also said he hoped to expand his family and that “Congress is not an ideal place to build and raise a family.”

He had previously ruled out a run for the U.S. Senate, saying he preferred to stay in the House, where he felt his work as a committee chair would make a lasting impact. Republicans had hoped he would run because the Wisconsin Senate seat is one of eight Democratic-held seats rated by the Cook Political Report, a non–partisan election arbiter, as at risk of falling to Republican hands. Gallagher has also consistently outperformed former GOP President Donald Trump, and his principal campaign committee had more than $4 million in cash on hand at the end of 2023, federal records show—more than any other House Republican.

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Bummer.  Big loss in my opinion.

Maybe Kari Lake can move to Wisconsin, grow some savy, and be their senator.