When Rep.-elect John James (R-Mich.) rose Thursday to nominate Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to be the next Speaker of the House, it announced the long-delayed arrival on the national political scene of a new GOP star.
James won election to the House of Representatives in November 2022. It was his first election victory, having lost a 2020 Senate race to incumbent Democratic Sen. Gary Peters and another Senate race in 2018 to incumbent Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
But James impressed political observers in both of his losing campaigns as a dynamic, articulate Black Republican at a time when such leaders were a rarity in the GOP. His 2022 victory against Democrat Carl Marlinga, a former county prosecutor, was close, but it was enough to send the West Point graduate to Congress for the first time….