McCarthy’s quest to be speaker collides with GOP failures

By LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the promise of a red wave receding, Republicans are facing the stark reality that any return to power would mean presiding over a narrowly split Congress. Meanwhile, the party’s dismal performance weakened House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy as he reaches for the speaker’s gavel. If Republicans pick up the remaining seats needed to break the Democrats’ one-party hold on Washington, McCarthy could rise to the position he has long wanted, but he would almost certainly be diminished, like so many other GOP speakers before him who were forced out or chose early retirement.