October 2015 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election
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On October 29, 2015, during the
This was 124th speaker of the House election since the office was created in 1789. Republican representative Paul Ryan, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, won the election, receiving 236 votes, an absolute majority of the 435-member chamber. Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader, garnered 184 votes, with 12 more going to others. As 432 representatives cast a vote, the majority needed to win was 217. Ryan (age 45) was the youngest person elected as speaker since James G. Blaine (age 39) in 1869. After the vote, Ryan delivered his first remarks as speaker-elect and was sworn in by John Conyers, the dean of the House.[3]
Boehner had been speaker since January 5, 2011, and during his tenure had managed substantial friction within the
Several Republicans expressed interest in becoming speaker.
Background
Process and conventions
The
Moreover, as the Constitution does not explicitly state that the speaker must be an incumbent member of the House, it is permissible for representatives to vote for someone who is not a member of the House at the time, and non-members have received a few votes in various speaker elections over the past several years.[7] Nevertheless, every person elected speaker has been a member.[6]
To be elected speaker a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes cast, as opposed to an absolute majority of the full membership of the House – presently 218 votes, in a House of 435. There have only been a few instances during the past century where a person received a majority of the votes cast, and thus won the election, while failing to obtain a majority of the full membership. It happened in the previous election, in January 2015 (114th Congress), when John Boehner was elected with 216 votes (as opposed to 218). Such a variation in the number of votes necessary to win a given election might arise due to vacancies, absentees, or members being present but not voting. If no candidate wins a majority of the "votes cast for a person by name," then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected.[6] Multiple roll calls have been necessary only 15 times since 1789; and not, at the time, since 1923 (68th Congress), when a closely divided House needed nine ballots to elect Frederick H. Gillett speaker.[8] Upon winning election, the new speaker is immediately sworn in by the Dean of the United States House of Representatives, the chamber's longest-serving member.[9][10]
Speakership and resignation of John Boehner
Throughout 2015, Boehner and the Freedom Caucus remained at odds. Boehner stripped his opponents of leadership posts and other perks, while the
On July 28, 2015,
Candidates
On September 28,
Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who served as the speaker from January 2007 through January 2011, asked her Democratic colleagues for their vote in the election.[24] Steny Hoyer, the House Minority Whip, said that he expected the "overwhelming majority" of Democrats to vote for Pelosi. He said that if a Republican could not get the votes needed, Democrats could consider their options.[25]
On October 7, the day before the Republican caucus scheduled a non-binding vote for speaker, Ryan and former Vice President
Citing opposition from within the Republican Party, as well as fallout from controversial comments he made about the
The announcement immediately set off a renewed effort to recruit Ryan as a candidate.
A possible Ryan candidacy received support from the same Freedom Caucus that opposed Boehner and McCarthy. Meadows said on October 11 that Ryan running would "definitely change the equation," and Chairman Jim Jordan described Ryan as "a good man," and stated that the Freedom Caucus would view a Ryan run "favorably".[50][51]
Others who expressed their interest in running included Texas Representatives Bill Flores[52][53][54] and Michael McCaul,[55] Georgia Representative Lynn Westmoreland,[56] Montana Representative Ryan Zinke,[57] and California Representative and former Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa.[58][59] However, several candidates made clear that they would only run if Ryan chose not to, including Issa, McCaul, and Minnesota Representative John Kline.[60][61][62] On October 12, Flores confirmed that he would run for speaker, but stated that he would run only if Ryan stayed out of the contest.[63]
Ryan held a closed-door meeting with the Republican Caucus on October 20, where he explained that he would run for speaker if he could be guaranteed an overwhelming majority of the Republican caucus would support him.
On October 22, Ryan announced his bid for speaker.
Once it appeared certain that Ryan would run, and win an overwhelming majority of the caucus's votes, Boehner rescheduled the Republican caucus vote for October 28.[75] Ryan won the nomination, defeating Webster 200 to 43 in the secret ballot voting.[76][77] Blackburn and McCarthy each received one vote.[78] The next day, Webster reportedly urged Republicans to vote for Ryan instead of him.[79]
Declared
The following officially declared their candidacy:
- Nancy Pelosi, (Democratic Party), Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives (since 2011; 2003–2007), United States Representative for California's 12th congressional district (since 2013), and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (2007–2011).[24][25]
- Paul Ryan, (Republican Party), United States Representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district (since 1999), Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee (since 2015), Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 2012 election.[80]
- Daniel Webster, (Republican Party), United States Representative for Florida's 10th congressional district (since 2013).[81][82]
Withdrawn
The following were candidates, but subsequently withdrew:
- Bill Flores, (Republican Party), United States representative for Texas's 17th congressional district (since 2011). (Withdrew on October 22, 2015; endorsed Paul Ryan).[84]
- Kevin McCarthy (Republican Party), United States representative for California's 23rd congressional district (since 2013), Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives (since 2014). (Withdrew on October 8, 2015).[18][85]
Publicly expressed interest
The following publicly expressed interest in becoming candidates:
- Newt Gingrich, (Republican Party), Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1995–1999), House Minority Whip (1989–1995), United States representative for Georgia's 6th congressional district (1979–1999).[86][87]
- Michael McCaul, (Republican Party), United States representative for Texas's 10th congressional district (since 2005), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee (since 2013).[55][62]
- Mike Pompeo, (Republican Party), United States representative for Kansas's 4th congressional district (since 2011).[88][89]
- Lynn Westmoreland, (Republican Party), United States representative for Georgia's 3rd congressional district (since 2007).[56]
- Ryan Zinke, (Republican Party), United States representative for Montana's at-large congressional district (since 2015).[57][90]
Declined to run
The following received some speculation about a possible candidacy, but subsequently ruled themselves out:
- Marsha Blackburn, (Republican Party), United States representative for Tennessee's 7th congressional district (since 2003).[91][92]
- Trey Gowdy (Republican Party), United States representative for South Carolina's 4th congressional district (since 2011), Chairman of the House Benghazi Committee (since 2014).[93]
- Jeb Hensarling (Republican Party), United States representative for Texas's 5th congressional district (since 2003), Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services (since 2013).[94]
- Chairman of the House Republican Conference (since 2013).[95]
- Peter Roskam, (Republican Party), United States representative for Illinois's 6th congressional district (since 2007).[96][97]
- Steve Scalise (Republican Party), United States representative for Louisiana's 1st congressional district (since 2008), Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives (since 2014).[48][98]
Received speculation
The following received speculation about a possible candidacy in at least two reliable sources:
- Diane Black, (Republican Party), United States representative for Tennessee's 6th congressional district (since 2011).[99][100]
- Mike Conaway, (Republican Party), United States representative for Texas's 11th congressional district (since 2005).[53][54]
- Mike Kelly, (Republican Party), United States representative for Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district (since 2011).[101][102]
- John Kline, (Republican Party), United States representative for Minnesota's 2nd congressional district (since 2003), Chairman of the House Education Committee (since 2011).[58][61]
Election of the speaker
On October 29, 2015, Ryan was elected speaker, receiving 236 votes.[103] Following the election, Raúl Labrador, a Freedom Caucus member from Idaho, said that Ryan will need to "realize the honeymoon is over and start bringing us some conservative policy," and that "the final exam for Paul Ryan will be in January 2017, when there is a speaker election, and we will look at his body of work and determine whether he gets a passing grade or not."[13]
The vote count in the October 2015 speaker of the House election was:[6]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Paul Ryan (WI 1) | 236 | 54.63 | |
Democratic | Nancy Pelosi (CA 12) | 184 | 42.60 | |
Republican | Dan Webster (FL 10) | 9 | 2.08 | |
Democratic | Jim Cooper (TN 5) | 1 | 0.23 | |
Democratic | John Lewis (GA 5) | 1 | 0.23 | |
Republican | Colin Powell | 1 | 0.23 | |
Total votes | 432 | 100 | ||
Votes necessary | 217 | >50 |
Ryan did not cast a vote in the election, while Pelosi did.[104]
Representatives voting for someone other than their party's speaker nominee were:[105]
■ Dave Brat of Virginia; Curt Clawson of Florida; Louie Gohmert of Texas; Paul Gosar of Arizona; Walter Jones of North Carolina; Thomas Massie of Kentucky; Bill Posey of Florida; Randy Weber of Texas; and Ted Yoho of Florida voted for Dan Webster;
■ Jim Cooper of Tennessee voted for Colin Powell, who was not a member of the House at the time;
■ Gwen Graham of Florida voted for Jim Cooper;
■ Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona voted for John Lewis.
See also
References
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