China Select Committee Chair Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin Announces Retirement
Gallagher becomes the 4th Republican committee chair to retire this cycle.
In a surprising turn of events, Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, a Republican, has today announced that he will not seek a fifth term representing the state’s 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. The news comes just days after he was one of just three House Republicans to vote against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Gallagher, 39, is the 45th retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives for the upcoming 2024 cycle - 24 Democrats and 21 Republicans. The congressional districts in Wisconsin are currently being challenged in state court. However, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has not yet ruled on if the lines should be redrawn for the 2024 election.
Gallagher has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since January 2017. Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District covers the northeastern portion of the state - centering on Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh and the Door Peninsula.
Gallagher previously served as a U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer. He was on active duty between 2006 and 2013 - deploying twice to Iraq to serve on the CENTCOM Assessment Team. After his military service, he became a Republican staffer on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and then a foreign policy advisor to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s 2016 presidential campaign.
In 2016, Gallagher competed in the Republican primary to succeed outgoing incumbent Reid Ribble, also a Republican, in the 8th District. He handily defeated State Senator Frank Lasee 74.5-19.8 for the nomination. In the general election, he also easily won 62.6-37.3 against Democrat Tom Nelson. That was ultimately the most competitive election of his congressional career. In 2022, he won his now final term in a three-way contest against Independent Paul Boucher and Libertarian Jacob VandenPlas.
For the 118th Congress, the House Republican majority decided to form the Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. Gallagher was tapped to serve as Chair. He additionally serves on the House Committee on Armed Services and the House Select Committee on Intelligence.
Notably, Gallagher becomes the fourth Committee Chair to retire from the U.S. House this cycle. He joins Appropriations Chair Kay Granger of Texas, Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, and Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry of North Carolina. The House Republican Conference bars its members from serving more than three terms leading committees. That rule would have prevented another Chair term for Granger and McHenry. However, it wouldn’t have applied to Gallagher or McMorris Rodgers.
Gallagher was seen as a rising star in the House Republican Conference. He was heavily courted to run for the U.S. Senate this cycle. The party viewed him as the strongest candidate to face Democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin. He declined to run and the party still hasn’t recruited a strong candidate in that particular race.
Despite his favorable standing in the party, talk quickly consolidated around supporting a primary challenger to Gallagher’s right following his vote on the Mayorkas impeachment effort. However, no candidates have yet launched campaigns for either the Democratic or Republican nominations to succeed Gallagher in the 8th District. The filing deadline to appear on the August 13 primary ballot is June 3.
Under the current lines, Donald Trump won Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District with a 57.0-41.5 finish against Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. That came as Biden was carrying the state 49.45-48.82 in his ultimately successful national campaign.