Less than half of Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to expel former congressman George Santos, but the ones who did so came mostly from endangered districts, swing states or were his fellow New Yorkers.
Mr Santos was one of 18 Republicans who in 2022 won in a district that had voted for President Joe Biden. All 17 of his fellow Biden-district Republicans--including his five fellow freshman Republicans in New York who won seats last year--voted to expel Mr Santos.
Other freshmen who flipped seats such as Reps Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon’s 5th district, Jen Kiggans of Virginia’s 2nd also voted to boot the 35-year-old. Many of them know that Mr Santos is a drag on their brand and needed to kick him out. For instance, Rep John Duarte of California’s 13th district, who also voted to expel, only won his district by 564 votes.
In addition, other Republicans such as Reps Don Bacon of Nebraska and Brian Fitzpatrick, who are considered more moderate Republicans who voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results, also voted to kick him out.
At the same time, House Republican leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson; House Majority Leader Steve Scalise; fellow New Yorker and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer all voted to keep him in Congress.
Similarly, many archconservative Republicans such as Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry, and Tim Burchett of Tennessee voted to keep him in office.
Several other Republicans from swing districts voted to keep him in office. Rep Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who only won her re-election in Colorado’s 3rd district by 546 votes last year, voted against expulsion.
Rep Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who had called for his resignation, also voted against expulsion.
One hundred five Republicans voted to expel Mr Santos, while 112 voted to keep him in office. Five Republicans didn’t vote.
Among the Democrats, 206 members voted to boot Mr Santos, and two voted to keep him in place, whole three didn’t vote.
The two Democrats who voted to keep Mr Santos in the House were Reps Bobby Scott of Virginia and Nikema Williams of Georgia – fellow Democrats Jonathan Jackson of Illinois and Al Green of Texas voted present.
In total, 311 members voted to remove Mr Santos, easily crossing the two-third threshold of 290 – 114 members voted against his removal, two voted present, and eight didn’t vote.
