House Republicans have nominated Minnesota lawmaker and party Whip, Tom Emmer as their Speaker designee.
This came as the 221-member Republican majority in the House gathered on Tuesday, October 24, 2023, for closed-door votes to select a nominee.
A simple majority of 111 was needed to win the nomination. However, due to the number of candidates, it was not possible for a winner to be produced on the first ballot.
In line with conference rules, the last-place finisher was eliminated and the secret ballot process repeated until Emmer emerged with a majority.
The candidates were eight in number however, Rep. Gary Palmer dropped out of the speaker race on Tuesday morning, stating “if withdrawing my name can help expedite that process even a little, then I will gladly step aside.”
“I will work with the next speaker on the ideas I have laid out so Congress can come together and do the job the American people sent us here to do,” Palmer announced on X.
That left seven candidates, namely, Reps. Tom Emmer, Jack Bergman, Byron Donalds, Kevin Hern, Austin Scott, Pete Sessions and Mike Johnson, in the run for nomination.
Emmer got the most votes on each round of secret ballot.
Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas was eliminated on the first round.
The vote tally for the first round of voting was Tom Emmer – 78, Mike Johnson – 34, Byron Donalds – 29, Kevin Hern – 27, Austin Scott – 18, Jack Bergman – 16 and Pete Sessions – 8
Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan has been eliminated in the second ballot.
These were the results of the second secret ballot; Tom Emmer – 90, Mike Johnson – 37, Byron Donalds – 33, Kevin Hern – 31, Austin Scott – 14 and Jack Bergman – 7
During the third ballot, Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia was eliminated from the race.
The results were Tom Emmer – 100, Mike Johnson – 43, Byron Donalds – 32, Kevin Hern – 26 and Austin Scott – 12
On the fourth ballot, Byron Donalds and Kevin Hern were tied for last.
Donalds dropped out and Hern was eliminated.
The fifth round of voting pit Tom Emmer against Mike Johnson, the conference Vice-Chair. Emmer won the nomination with the results as follows; Emmer-117, Johnson-97, Others: 5 and Present: 1.
Emmer Faces Opposition In Roll Call Vote
After winning the nomination, Tom Emmer asked for a roll call vote to determine how many members would actually support him on the floor. This will put members on the record about where they stand and make clear to Emmer who his opposition is to getting to 217.
To become Speaker, Emmer will need 217 votes in the House. Democrats are not expected to vote for him, so all his support must come from Republicans, and he can only lose four votes.
Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise, dropped out after concluding he would not win a floor vote. Their second nominee, Jim Jordan, withdrew after losing three floor votes.
Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas also said that there was “significant opposition” to Emmer.
Womack added that it was going to be up to Emmer to decide if he wants to go to the floor for a speakership vote.
Rep. Brandon Williams of New York disclosed that there were 26 votes against Speaker designee Tom Emmer during the closed-door roll call vote.
“There were 26 that either voted present or voted for another candidate. Of those I believe there were five that voted present and the bulk of them were for Jim Jordan. I think there was five for Mike Johnson and one for Byron Donalds,” Williams said.
Williams added that Emmer is trying to resolve the concerns of those members in the room.
However, Ohio Republican Rep. Dave Joyce said that if Emmer can not get to 217 votes, he is willing to bring up a resolution to give interim Speaker, Patrick McHenry full powers.
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