Severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings issued for Twin Cities metro area

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Republican U.S. Rep. Jason Lewis on Sunday blamed the late Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain for the GOP's loss of the U.S. House of Representatives — an opinion that drew a swift and angry rebuke from McCain's family and supporters.

 against a Republican-led effort to scrap the Affordable Care Act put fellow Republicans in an electoral bind last week, Lewis, who was also defeated, 

"McCain's last-minute decision prompted a 'green wave' of liberal special-interest money, which was used to propagate false claims that the House plan 'gutted coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.' That line was the Democrats' most potent attack in the midterms," Lewis wrote in a commentary piece under the headline "Who Lost the House? John McCain."

Politics

Lewis maintains that the House-passed health care bill would have preserved health coverage for the sickest people, perhaps by moving them into high-risk pools.

McCain died in August after a long battle with brain cancer. The Arizona senator was the party's 2008 presidential nominee and a former Navy pilot who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

His daughter, Meghan, was among those criticizing Lewis. She called his piece "abhorrent" on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/MeghanMcCain/status/1062008589768888325

Other McCain defenders, including past aides, said the timing of the piece made things worse given that it was published on the national observance of Veterans Day.

Lewis, a first-term congressman from the southeastern Twin Cities suburbs, 

lost his rematch with Democrat Angie Craig,

 a former health care executive, by a 52-47 margin, according to uncertified returns.

A former talk radio show host, Lewis has not indicated whether he will seek office again in 2020 or return to the private sector when his term is up in January.

A message sent to his campaign manager about the commentary was not immediately returned.

Editor's note (Nov. 12, 2018): An earlier version of this story said Lewis' opinion piece ran Monday. To clarify, the Wall Street Journal posted it online Sunday and ran it in Monday's newspaper.

Politics and Government News

Minnesota Votes

NewsPartners

Brian Bakst

Author

Republicans lost the House because of McCain's Senate vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act, Minnesota U.S. Rep. Jason Lewis wrote Sunday. Reaction from McCain's family and supporters was swift and angry.

Second District Congressman Jason Lewis concedes.

Rep. Lewis draws flak for blaming GOP election losses on John McCain

Go Deeper.

Like this?