After Liz Cheney was removed from the post of House chair, the number 3 position of the GOP, it was almost taken for granted that she would be replaced by Elise Stefanik. Despite being questioned on her conservative credentials as per her past voting patterns, she had two majors in her favor. She was endorsed by Trump as she has been his vociferous supporter right from the time of the first impeachment. The second point in her favor is that she is a woman, replacing the position that has been previously occupied by another woman. However, it looks like her dream run has hit a snag. Chip Roy, a conservative Republican from the lone star state and a protégé of Texan Senator Ted Cruz has announced his entry into the race.
The winner of this battle is unknown as yet as they have their own pockets of support among the Republicans. Both of them addressed their GOP fellow members on Thursday, before the scheduled vote on Friday morning.
Stefanik became a Congresswoman in 2015, at that time; she was the youngest woman to enter the Congress. She represents New York and had voted against the 2017 tax cut law brought in by the Republicans. She said that it would hurt her constituents and that they would have to pay bigger tax bills each year however, she has strongly defended Donald Trump, before his impeachment and also after he criticized Liz Cheney.
Stefanik sent a letter to her House colleagues. She said that she would listen to their views. She also mentioned that she would be willing meet, at least twice, with members who belong to the conservative Freedom Caucus.
Chip Roy is a conservative Republican who has strong ties to Senator Ted Cruz. This Texan congressman was the former Chief of Staff of Cruz. He could also get the backing of the influential right-wing Freedom Caucus in the House. He has the reputation of being a hardliner in the conservative Republican Party.
After Chip Roy announced his to stand for the post against Stefanik, the former president Donald Trump reaffirmed his support for her. He released a statement on his website which said that he couldn’t imagine that members would go with Chip Roy. He said that Roy had not done a great job and would probably be successfully primaried in his own district.
Trump also said, “I support Elise, by far, over Chip,”
Image Credit: Chip Roy Facebook
