Why Rep. Doug LaMalfa was the lone California Republican to vote for Kevin McCarthy’s return

Rep. Doug LaMalfa is not given to public displays of sentiment. But the Oroville Republican struck an emotional note Tuesday afternoon after voting for Kevin McCarthy’s reinstatement as Speaker of the House.

“My vote today is to say Kevin, I appreciate you. I wish you were still our speaker,” LaMalfa said, standing in the ornate lobby just off the House floor.

McCarthy was deposed last week, and the vote Tuesday was whether Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio should succeed him. Jordan fell short, and LaMalfa Wednesday backed Jordan on the second ballot.

But first, LaMalfa said, he had to stand up Tuesday for his old friend McCarthy. They served together in the California Assembly from 2002 to 2006, and again in the House since 2013.

LaMalfa could have been speaking for others Tuesday. McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, evokes deep affection and loyalty from California’s congressional Republicans. Six members of Congress voted for McCarthy for Speaker Tuesday, and five backed him Wednesday.

LaMalfa called McCarthy “a longtime colleague and friend and our speaker of the house who’s done a fantastic job. As well as his track record as majority leader.” McCarthy, first elected to Congress in 2006, was House majority or minority leader from 2014 until he became speaker.

LaMalfa recalled how, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor in the early 2000s, McCarthy was the “Schwarzenegger-whisperer.” As Assembly minority leader part of the that time, LaMalfa said, he could be an effective conduit between his sometimes raucous GOP caucus and the more accommodating Republican governor.

“I’ve known him for 21 years since California. His talent not being in this spot will be sorely missed and that’s no [aspersion] on Jim or whoever else might come up,” said LaMalfa.

But he couldn’t put aside the chaos of the last few weeks.

“Kevin McCarthy was taken down for frivolous, unproductive reasons. We had a good thing going this year in doing House business, yet a handful of folks were able to take it all down because they didn’t get 100% of what they wanted,” LaMalfa said.

A vote for an old friend

On Tuesday, he wanted to make it clear that he remained angry and frustrated at how his friend was treated. McCarthy was torpedoed when eight of his colleagues joined 208 Democrats in voting against him.

“What has gone on in the last two weeks has really stunk,” LaMalfa said.

Tuesday, the other 11 California House Republicans voted for Jordan for speaker on the first ballot.

Jordan fell short of the 217 votes he needed in the first and second round of votes Tuesday and Wednesday.

It took McCarthy 15 ballots and a series of concessions to get the gavel in January.

McCarthy said that he would not seek the speakership again, though he has sent mixed messages by saying he’d be open to whatever the Republican conference wanted.

Once it became clear that McCarthy wouldn’t get the nomination, other adamant Republicans like Reps. John Duarte, R-Modesto, and Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, moved on.

Jordan, an Ohio Republican who helped found the far-right House Freedom Caucus, at first struggled to get more middle-of-the-road Republicans given his history of pushing government shutdowns and claims that Trump won the 2020 presidential election. He has also consistently voted against sending aid to Ukraine, which is largely bipartisan.

LaMalfa said he approached Jordan and explained that he would give McCarthy his vote on the first ballot.

“I told him I’m with you on the second ballot but this is something i need to do,” LaMalfa said, “and he totally understood.”