Florida Republican Rep. John Mica is set to take over as chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee when the next Congress convenes in January following the Republicans’ takeover of control of the House of Representatives in the Nov. 2 election.
A much bigger surprise, however, is that committee chairman, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) apparently won’t be in Congress at all. With 98 percent of the precincts reporting, Oberstar, who was first elected in 1974, trails Republican Chip Cravaack by more than 4,000 votes. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) easily won reelection and presumably will take the reins as ranking minority leader of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.), the ranking minority leader on the highways and transit subcommittee, easily won reelection, as did Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who chairs the subcommittee.
