Although House Republicans still have to elect their next speaker, most analysts believed that they would overwhelmingly turn toward Boehner, one of the architects of Tuesday’s victory.
“This is an amazing Washington story,’’ said Barry Bennett, a Republican consultant in Washington with ties to Boehner. “He’ll be the speaker with the largest Republican majority since the 1940s.’’
Many of the Republican gains took place in the Great Lakes region, particularly Ohio where they appear to have defeated five incumbent Democrats in Ohio — Zack Space of Dover, Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville, Mary Jo Kilroy of Columbus, Steve Driehaus of Cincinnati, and John Boccieri of Alliance. By doing so, Republicans now control 13 of the state’s 18 congressional seats.
The Republicans also scored major House victories in Indiana, Virginia, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. They unseated Democrat Rick Boucher of Virginia, a key member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and, as of 10 p.m., were close to winning the South Carolina seat held by House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt.
But the GOP victory also was a personal triumph for Boehner, who just a dozen years was removed from his leadership post in the House by his Republican colleagues.
But rather than retiring from the House, Boehner undertook a tenacious comeback, first becoming chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee and then GOP leader in 2006.
“A lot of people misjudged John and thought he was all politics,’’ said former Rep. David Hobson, R-Springfield. “He could have walked away. He did something most people didn’t think he had the capability of doing. He became a very good legislator.’’
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