Congress
Posted by Charlie Kirk Staff - 10.25.23

Mike Johnson Wins Race To Become Next Speaker After Support Poured In

Mike Johnson Wins Race To Become Next Speaker After Support Poured In

Congress
Posted by Charlie Kirk Staff - 10.25.23

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) emerged victorious on Wednesday to become the next Speaker of the House after a majority of the Republican caucus cast ballots for him during the second round of secret voting on Tuesday.

“Johnson could afford only a handful of defections from his fellow Republicans in the chamber-wide vote, but unlike prior candidates, there were no defections to his candidacy from his party,” Fox News reported.

Johnson initially finished behind House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a moderate Republican from Minnesota who eventually withdrew as a candidate after former President Donald Trump came out against him.

According to Politico, after two rounds of voting, “Johnson has the most votes in the House GOP’s latest attempt to nominate a speaker, though he’s still short of the majority he needs to become the conference nominee.”

“Three candidates are now out of the running: Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (Tenn.) and Rep. Roger Williams (Texas) were eliminated after receiving the fewest votes, while Rep. Marc Green dropped out after the second round,” the outlet said, going on to report that Republicans will continue to vote by secret ballot until one candidate manages to secure a simple majority.

Here’s how the votes went on Tuesday, per Politico:

Round one:

Johnson 85 … Byron Donalds 32 … Mark Green 23 … Roger Williams 21 … Fleischmann 10 … Other 31 … Present 2

Round two:

Johnson 97 … Donalds 31 … Green 21 … Williams-20 … Other 34

Following his second-round victory, Johnson told reporters he was “very confident” that he could get 217 votes and said “the intention is to go to the floor” for a vote sometime on Wednesday.

“We had votes for Mike Johnson across the board,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the ringleader in the drive to oust Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) late last month, setting off the current situation of Republicans being unable to fill the Speaker’s chair and get the chamber back to work.

On Wednesday, Donalds took to the X platform to thank supporters for voting for him while throwing his support behind Johnson.

“My family and I are incredibly grateful for the prayers and support, especially over the last several days. I am proud to vote for the gentleman from Louisiana, Speaker-designate @RepMikeJohnson, as the NEXT Speaker of the House. Let’s get to work!” he tweeted.

Others predicted that Johnson would become the next Speaker following a vote later Wednesday.

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