Tag: Jim Brulte

House Speaker Paul Ryan’s decision to retire from Congress didn’t just send shock waves through Washington and his home state of Wisconsin. One likely successor to Ryan as head of the House’s GOP contingent is a Californian — he could become speaker if Republicans keep their House majority in the November elections. McCarthy seemed to have the inside track on the job then, including backing from Silicon Valley. Should Republicans retain control of the House — a big if — and McCarthy wins the job, “it could mean more money for California. Kevin McCarthy has forgotten more about California than the previous speaker knows,” Brulte said. “If one is the speaker and the other is party leader, that’s heads we win, tails we win,” said Carl Guardino, president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which represents 400 tech executives. San Francisco billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who has pledged to spend $30 million registering 250,000 voters this year, said Wednesday that because of the tax plan, “history will not be kind to Paul Ryan.” New target: With Ryan fading as a party leader, expect Democrats to seize on Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, as the next bogeyman. With Paul Ryan out of the way, he will be a face of the party,” said Miller, the Republican strategist. There are few better fundraisers on the GOP side than Ryan, who brought in $44 million for Republican candidates in 2017 — a record for a House leader in a non-election year. While (Ryan) may not have been a big motivator for donors, he was for the donor class.” Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicle’s senior political writer.