Katie Hill announces resignation amid scandal. Could Republicans take her seat back?

The following is an excerpt from Blaze Media’s Capitol Hill Brief email newsletter:

Democratic House member and House Oversight Committee vice chair Katie Hill announced her resignation from Congress Sunday night, following a flurry of public scrutiny about her sexual involvement with members of her staff.

However, in her resignation letter, Hill said that her resignation is necessary “so that the good people who supported me will no longer be subjected to the pain inflicted by my abusive husband and the brutality of hateful political operatives who seem to happily provide a platform to a monster who is driving a smear campaign built around cyber exploitation.” Hill later tweeted: “To every girl and woman - to everyone who believes in this fight - this isn’t over.”

But while Hill claims that the resignation was primarily driven by the publication of nude pictures, she was also facing public scrutiny over an alleged long-term “throuple” relationship involving a campaign staffer as well as an ethics probe about her alleged relationship with a member of her congressional staff.

This move leaves Hill’s California House district open, which could make for an interesting special election. Hill, who came to Congress on last year’s midterm election “blue wave,” flipped her seat to Democratic control from former Republican member Steve Knight, leaving at least the nominal possibility that it could flip back. However, it’s not guaranteed that a Republican candidate will even make it to the general election. California has “jungle primaries” that put the top two primary candidates against each other in the general election, regardless of party. California’s governor will have 14 days to announce a special election once the resignation takes effect in the coming months.

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