WASHINGTON — Two Republicans who triumphed in North Carolina special elections are set to join the House on Tuesday, including one whose narrow win showed anew that suburban voters are deserting the GOP while rural residents are embracing the party.
The swearing-in of Dan Bishop and Greg Murphy will bring the House to full strength, if only for a few days. A lawmaker from Wisconsin has said he will relinquish his office next week.
Bishop, a conservative state senator, defeated Democrat Dan McCready last Tuesday by 2 percentage points — significantly less than Donald Trump’s 11-point win in the district in the 2016 presidential election, a worrisome sign for Republicans.
McCready did slightly better in Charlotte and its suburbs than he’d done in his November 2018 bid for the same, vacant seat.
Alan Fram, The Associated Press
