Gaetz withdrew from consideration for Attorney General this morning, perhaps in an effort to reduce the risk that the House Ethics Committee report becomes public and hence preserve his ability to run for Governor of Florida in 2026 (with DeSantis being term-limited).

In other news, overnight Alaska ran the ranked choice allocations and Begich won comfortably, getting the Republicans to 218 without Gaetz. Including Gaetz’s seat, the score is now 219-213 with three remaining uncalled seats, two in California and one in Iowa, each of which currently has a margin of less than 1000 votes. In the California 45th, reportedly the most expensive House race in the country, the Republican incumbent had been ahead throughout, until yesterday. Republican incumbents are still ahead in the other two races, but I would hazard a guess that the Democrat will flip the California 13th, based on where the remaining uncounted vote appears to be from. If both these California seats go blue, that would reduce Speaker Johnson’s margin to 219-215, pending a special election to replace Gaetz.

This will be my last “Election 2024” blog post. I am considering whether I want to keep writing, in a factually focused way, about developments in the second Trump term; but even if I do it is time to retire the “Election 2024” sobriquet.