LOWELL -- Expect congressional Republicans to lose a dozen U.S. House seats in the upcoming election -- more if the party embraces a radical ideology, 3rd District Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., told a forum Wednesday morning.
At least 40 attended Womack's "Coffee with the Congressman" event at Lowell City Hall. Most of those who spoke demanded to know why Republican priorities such as deeper budget cuts hadn't been enacted. Womack, of Rogers, reminded them repeatedly there's still a Democratic president supported by a large Democratic minority in the Senate.
"All I've heard since I came in is what you can't do," said Roy Lietzau of Bella Vista.
"I can only do my part, and I've done my part," Womack replied.
"How many of you want us to impeach the president?" he asked later. Most raised their hand.
"If we do that, Rep. Bob Dold of Illinois, in a district north of Chicago, does not come back. Bruce Poliquin of Maine does not come back. David Valadao of California does not come back," Womack said.
Those Republican House members and more will face defeat in their re-election bids in congressional districts not nearly as Republican as Northwest Arkansas' 3rd District, he said.
"Attend one of these meetings in their districts and it will look nothing like mine," Womack said. "I think we're going to lose about a dozen seats in the House, which will leave us with a majority, but we'll lose more if we take too extreme of a stand on party ideology."
Valadao announced June 23 he couldn't support presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, the Los Angeles Times reported. Democrats have targeted Valadao's Central Valley district, which is 71 percent Hispanic, as a potential pick-up opportunity in the fall, the newspaper reported. Valadao won his seat in 2012.
Dold faces a rematch with former U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., whom Dold lost to in 2012, but defeated in 2014 in a close race. Poliquin won his seat in 2014 with a minority of the votes, with the rest split between the Democratic nominee and an independent.
Tyler Clark, Washington County Democratic chairman and state Democratic Party treasurer, said Womack's estimate of a dozen lost House seats is "probably accurate, although we're expecting more like 15, but it's a long time to November." Clark said a lot depends on how many more people Trump alienates.
He said the show of hands for impeachment of the president isn't representative, but "there's a lot of people who are angry. Some blame the president, but most are angry at the dysfunction of Congress."
Partisan Republicans push against equally partisan Democrats, Womack said, while a very large number of voters in the middle "just want their government to be functional."
"If there's only one thing you remember today, let it be the importance of the Supreme Court," Womack said. Trump "wasn't my first choice, or my second choice, or my third, but the next president is going to appoint at least two members and that will decide the majority."
The National Republican Congressional Committee headquarters in Washington had no immediate response to Womack's prediction the GOP delegation would lose a dozen seats, a spokesman said Wednesday evening.
NW News on 06/30/2016