Republicans selected House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) on Tuesday to be their third nominee for speaker three weeks after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was voted out of the role.
Emmer secured the majority in the fifth secret ballot in a face-off against Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), who is the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference. A House floor vote for the speakership could happen as early as later on Tuesday.
Seven lawmakers faced off across several rounds of voting, including Reps. Emmer, Johnson, Jack Bergman (R-MI), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Kevin Hern (R-OK), Austin Scott (R-GA), and Pete Sessions (R-TX).
The candidate with the least amount of votes was dropped following each of the first four ballots. Sessions was dropped after the first round, Bergman after the second, and Scott after the third. Hern came in last and dropped out following the fourth vote while Donalds bowed out, setting up Emmer and Johnson to go head-t0-head in ballot No. 5. Emmer led the field across every ballot but did not clinch the majority until the final one.
Here's how all the speaker candidates voted on key votes over the last few years.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 23, 2023
from @PunchbowlNews AMhttps://t.co/ec4I0rQQnJ pic.twitter.com/MRyITTJnWz
