Two Republican members of Congress apparently wed over the weekend. Mary Bono, the widow of Sonny Bono and his successor in Congress wed Connie Mack III, a Florida Republican. Bono represents CA-45 (R+3) one of the weaker Republican House districts in California. Mack represents FL-14, one of the more clearly Republican districts in the Sunshine State.
The wedding was clearly reminiscent of the 1994 nuptials of two NY Republican House members: Susan Molinari and Bill Paxon. Molinari, despite being part of Republican House leadership, resigned her seat just three years later. Republican Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum married Howard Baker in 1996 and did not seek re-election.
The difficulties of maintaining three households (one in the DC area plus one in each home district) would tend to nudge at least one of the partners to a somewhat speedy retirement.
Democrats would have a much better chance of winning Bono’s district than winning Mack’s.
Already this session, JoAnn Davis of Virginia died and was replaced in a special election by a male Republican and three Republican women in the House (Deb Pryce, Barbara Cubin, and Heather Wilson) have announced their retirement. Wilson is running for a Senate seat.
Should Bono retire, California would have no Republican women in the Housae (out of 19 seats). About half of California’s House Democrats, including Speaker nancy Pelosi, are women as are both of its two US Senators.