No Speaker yet after first ballot does not provide a winner
No Speaker yet after first ballot does not provide a winner
For the first time in 100 years there will be a second ballot to decide the Speaker of the House
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Update: Still no Speaker but the first ballot is complete.
After the first ballot of voting to decide the Speaker of the House, none of the candidates reached the 218-vote threshold necessary to win.
The Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy suffered an embarrassing defeat on the first ballot only earning 203 votes.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries earned 212 votes.
Republican Freedom Caucus insurgent nominee Andy Biggs earned 10 votes.
Jim Jordan (R) received six votes.
There was also one vote for Lee Zeldin (R), one for Byron Donalds (R), and one for Jim Banks (R).
Republicans hold 222 seats in the House compared to the 212 Democratic seats. Jefferies secured the support of every member of the Democratic caucus. McCarthy lost 19 votes from the members of his caucus.
For the first time in 100 years, there will be a second ballot to decide the Speaker of the House of Representatives. House Freedom Caucus members are opposing McCarthy and the mainstream Republicans in their efforts. They have been campaigning against McCarthy since November and the first ballot’s results show that those efforts were enough to be disruption to McCarthy and the Republican establishment.
Virginia Congressman Bob Good has been a loud opponent to McCarthy. He voted for Biggs to be Speaker. The rest of Virginia’s Republican representatives voted for McCarthy.
