The Story:
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) has announced that he is resigning his office at the end of this year, halfway through his tenth term. He represented the 21d Congressional district of that state through his first five terms, and he has represented the 22d since his victory in the 2012 election.
Significance:
Nunes has represented a solidly Republican (or “red”) district. But the redistricting underway could have made his next election campaign a challenging one.
Nunes will not have to rise to that challenge. He is leaving to become the chief executive of the Trump Media & Technology Group, a company the former president is putting together.
This means that the voters of Nunes’ district will choose who is to finish out the remainder of his term in a special election. That election will take place within the district as currently configured: the new map for the regularly scheduled 2022 election eleven months from now will not affect it.
The Thing to Know:
Nunes’ political identity has become very closely tied to that of former President Donald Trump. Although the winner of the special election will almost certainly be a Republican, it is an open question whether it will be as completely Trump-devoted a Republican as Nunes has been.
