Following the midterm elections on Tuesday, many of America’s representatives are going to see changes around their workplace.
Possibly the biggest change is the power swap between Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Republicans lost the House, and Democrats are now projected to hold the majority. Coupled with the fact that former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced months ago that he would be resigning from the House after this year, it means there is a power vacuum.
The Hill reported that Majority Whip Steve Scalise is throwing his hat in the ring for the position of minority whip.
“We have to do a better job of letting people know what we stand for, and how our ideas are better to improve the lives of hard-working families,” Scalise wrote in a letter to his colleagues.
“The results of Tuesday’s election show that we need to do even more to deliver on our promises when it comes to issues like protecting our borders, reforming our welfare system, promoting religious freedom, restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington, and defending innocent life.”
Scalise called on his colleagues to unify the voters by defending their legislative accomplishments, noting they’ll need to regain momentum and make their policy goals.
“We need to regain momentum in the battle of ideas, and inspire more good people to run for the seats we should not have lost so we can continue setting the House agenda and take back the House majority,” he continued.
“To regain our majority, our conference must act boldly to show the country our vision for a better future. That means we need to be more forward-looking and ideas-driven, more strategic. We must be united—not only on our vision and goals, but on the path we will take together to achieve that bold vision.”
The Louisiana Republican also highlighted his work as majority whip in his effort to convince his fellow Republicans to vote for him, making mention of the fact that he was able to move “1700 members from ‘no’ or ‘undecided’ to ‘yes’” by listening to their concerns.
The majority whip also talked about what he believes to be important, which was to challenge the Democrats as they “pursue their extreme, radical-left agenda” and to work with the president.
“Like you, I am a conservative citizen-legislator. Like you, I am here to get things done—and achieving that goal while in the minority will require the hard work of our entire Conference,” he concluded.
“That is why I am running to be your Republican Whip, and why I am asking for your support.”