2 Republican special election winners sworn into House

WASHINGTON — A former Navy fighter pilot who captured a California congressional district from Democrats and a state legislator who retained a Republican-held Wisconsin seat joined the House on Tuesday, buoying a GOP seeking momentum for its uphill fight for the chamber’s majority in this fall’s elections.

California’s Mike Garcia and Wisconsin’s Tom Tîffany, who won special elections last week to fill vacancies, are conservatives backed by President Donald Trump. Both will serve until Jan. 3, filling unexpired terms of lawmakers who resigned last year.

The two men stood side by side on the House floor as they were sworn into office by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. In this age of the coronavirus, they elbow-bumped afterward but did not wear face masks.

In brief remarks, Garcia said one of his goals was “to hopefully get through this crisis as a solid, unified country.” Tiffany said he wants to “advance the cause of freedom and liberty.”

Pelosi later presided at ceremonial swearing-in events for both lawmakers, most noteworthy because she briefly stood less than the recommended 6 feet away from the men and their families.

Garcia’s win came in a Los Angeles-area district that was among dozens of suburban seats that Democrats won from the GOP in 2018, catapulting them to House control. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had carried the district by 7 percentage points in 2016, and two years later Democrat Katie Hill won the seat by 9 points.