Donald Trump’s close GOP ally resigns from the House

| 6:00 pm EST January 7, 2020
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Way back when Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter was first criminally indicted, it was inevitable that he would be convicted. He was facing cut-and-dry charges, and the evidence was solid. Once Hunter’s wife cut a plea deal against him, it was clear that Hunter would also end up having to cut a plea deal and plead guilty. That all played out as expected. The question was whether the guy would ever get around to resigning.

Duncan Hunter already lost his voting privileges in late 2019, and was eventually a lame duck. Some observers suggested that perhaps he was trying to wait as long as possible before resigning so he could collect a few more paychecks first. Or maybe he just couldn’t face the inevitable. Either way, Hunter has officially announced his resignation today, and he’ll be out the door by next week. So now what?

There are two things at play here. First, this represents yet another ugly blow for Donald Trump. Duncan Hunter was one of the very first members of Congress to endorse Trump in 2016, and now Hunter – like so many others in Trump’s political fold – has been ruined and is now on his way to prison. Second, his seat is now up for grabs.

Duncan Hunter just barely won reelection in 2018, despite having already been indicted. It was an absurd outcome, but it also showed that the Democrats can compete in his district. We’ll likely see a special election to replace Hunter in early 2020, quickly followed by the usual November 2020 election, meaning the Democrats will have two shots this year at flipping Hunter’s seat.