In largely symbolic vote, Republicans pick California’s Kevin McCarthy to be Speaker
Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy passed his first stress-test for ascending to Speaker with his party poised to take control of the congressional chamber.
That said, Tuesday’s largely-symbolic GOP vote showed that, as it stands right now, he does not have enough support to take the top spot of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Speaker of the House is elected on the first day of the next Congress: Jan. 3, 2023. To win, the representative requires a simple majority of the House, or 218 votes. Those 218 votes can come from Democrats or Republicans.
Tuesday’s nomination, conducted in an internal House Republican caucus meeting, split 188 for McCarthy and 31 against.
“This new Republican leadership team is ready to get to work to put America back on the right track,” McCarthy said in short remarks after the GOP voted for its 2023 slate of House leaders.
The Bakersfield Republican faced a challenge from Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs. Biggs, 64, is part of a group of far-right conservatives who think the House GOP needs a makeover after a “red wave” failed to materialize in the midterms. Biggs was once the head of the House Freedom Caucus, which ardently backed former President Donald Trump.
McCarthy, too, is a Trump ally, having kept the House GOP united against the first round of impeachment in 2019. In the wake of the 2021 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, after privately saying the former president should have resigned, McCarthy did not vote to impeach Trump and made amends.
Trump, who announced his own presidential bid Tuesday night, told Fox News he supported McCarthy for speaker.
Some far-right House Republicans, such as Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, feared that division within the GOP might allow Democrats to help pick the Speaker.
Given the slim majority that Republicans are expected to take, Democrats backing a representative alongside enough moderate GOP members could cause conservatives to lose sway.
Republicans were one seat shy of 218 as of Tuesday night, per Associated Press projections, and are expected to take the majority. Democrats secured 209 seats so far. Most of the uncalled races are in California. Two in McCarthy’s backyard could go either way.
Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, pulled ahead of farmer John Duarte, a Modesto Republican, on Monday for the first time since election night. On Tuesday, Gray, 45, had 50.3% of the votes with almost 86% counted in California’s 13th Congressional District, according to the AP.
Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, was hot on the tail of Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, in California’s 22nd Congressional District. Valadao, 45, had 52.4% of the votes with almost 64% counted, according to Tuesday returns shown by the AP.
Even if he takes the gavel, McCarthy’s job as speaker would not be simple, when he has to wrangle a fractured party for votes that are not bipartisan. Every member’s support becomes more important with a smaller majority.
Plus the president and Democratic Senate could thwart GOP plans.
McCarthy has long been considered the favorite to become Speaker of the House. A day after the Associated Press said that he would prevail in California’s 20th Congressional District, he threw his hat in the ring.
The Bakersfield native previously ran for the position in 2015 but pulled his name from consideration in fears that he didn’t have enough support.
