In reality, Mike Johnson probably recognized a lot of what he saw in New York’s 3rd: A new-to-politics candidate with red flags in their past who gets caught lying a lot; big donors staying on the sidelines because they don’t trust the new generation of Republican leaders; the ceding of middle ground on basic issues to Democrats because of conspiratorial thinking and a collective insistence on valorizing partisan hostility and obstinacy. And both you and he likely know the reason why those are features, not bugs, for his party. (The reason is former President Donald Trump!) It’s appropriate that the Pilip-Suozzi vote was held in February, really, because for the modern GOP, every election might as well be Groundhog Day