McCarthy gains another vote for House speaker on 13th ballot
Virginia Aabram
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GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) convinced a 14th holdout to vote for him on the 13th ballot for House speaker after winning over most of his detractors the round before.
McCarthy convinced Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) to support his candidacy, bringing his total number of holdouts down to six.
The 12th ballot ended with McCarthy winning a plurality of votes for the first time, beating House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) 213-211 with three absences. Six Republicans continue to block McCarthy from the gavel, and he can only afford to lose four.
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The six lawmakers he needs to convince are Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Bob Good (R-VA), and Matt Rosendale (R-MT). They split their votes between Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Kevin Hern (R-OK), both of whom support McCarthy.
The 13 representatives who flipped on the 12th ballot were:
Dan Bishop (R-NC) Josh Brecheen (R-OK) Michael Cloud (R-TX) Andrew Clyde (R-GA) Byron Donalds (R-FL) Paul Gosar (R-AZ) Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) Mary Miller (R-IL) Ralph Norman (R-SC) Andy Ogles (R-TN) Scott Perry (R-PA) Chip Roy (R-TX) Keith Self (R-TX)
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) changed her vote from “present” to McCarthy, another small victory for the California Republican.
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Most of those who changed their votes were holding out for more rules concessions, which McCarthy granted after days of negotiating. The others are opposed on more personal grounds, but he only needs three of them to flip.
“It’s better that we go through this process right now so we can achieve the things we want to achieve for the American public,” McCarthy said Thursday night, expressing confidence in his ability to close the deal.