Kevin McCarthy’s road to Speaker of the House is bumpy and unclear after 3 failed votes
Kevin McCarthy was feeling the pain of struggling to become Speaker of the House. Again.
On and on Tuesday went, as the Bakersfield Republican endured multiple ballots that were maddeningly repetitive. It was the first time in 100 years that it took more than one ballot to elect a speaker, usually a joyous task that is wrapped up quickly on the House’s opening day.
After three rounds of votes — none of them successful in selecting a speaker — the House adjourned for the day.
McCarthy, 57, had been in this mess before. In 2015, he was the clear favorite to succeed House Speaker John Boehner. He lacked the votes then, too, thanks to a band of ultra-conservatives, and then shocked everyone by dropping out.
This time, he would fight them. This time he would wait them out. But this time there was an ugliness. There was no joy among House Republicans Monday.
A determined band of roughly 20 die-hard conservatives stuck together, refusing to back McCarthy. Too compromising, they said. Too tied to the establishment.
Give us Jim Jordan, they said. Give us the Ohio firebrand who opposed McCarthy in 2015.
“Maybe Jim Jordan is the right person for speaker of the House because he is not beholden to the lobbyists and special interests who have corrupted this place and corrupted the nation under the leadership of both Republicans and Democrats,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., told colleagues.
Jordan was not interested. He was supporting McCarthy now, and made a rousing speech urging colleagues to support his new friend.
But the anti-McCarthy contingent wouldn’t budge.
McCarthy fights
McCarthy had a pained look throughout the day, but his words never betrayed only hints of anger.
He tried to be lofty, telling reporters after the second ballot, “This can’t be about (that) you’re going to leverage somebody for your own person gain. This has to be about the country. This has to stay with it to be able to win.”
How long will you stay in the race, he was asked? “We’re staying in till we win,” he shot back.
Anything surprise you today so far? He was quick with an answer: “No.”
McCarthy was all in, and he’d been all in for years trying to get the speaker’s job.
He embraced former President Donald Trump just three weeks after the January insurrection.
He made it clear that Jordan would head the House Judiciary Committee, a panel expected to launch multiple investigations of the Biden administration.
He made key concessions leading up to the votes, including to allow a rule that would let just five members call a snap vote at any time to oust the speaker.
His detractors still wouldn’t quit.
Was he worried about retribution, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., was asked: “I’m not worried about retribution,” he said. “Whatever happens happens.”
Is there a point where you’ll break and give in? “Not from us,” Norman insisted.
Members-elect were prepared to go into the night to secure McCarthy’s speakership.
“I worked in the media for 35 years, and I have worked a lot of telethons,” said Mark Alford, newly-elected Republican from Missouri. “This is nothing compared to a telethon. I’m prepared to sleep here on the House floor if I have to. That’s not going to happen. We are going to adjourn tonight.”
.As the day and night wore on, the standoff became more than simply whether McCarthy would be speaker.
“I think this costs us prestige” said Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, a McCarthy supporter. “There’s an old saying that the whole world is watching.”
So how does all this end? Sessions had a quick answer. “In frustration,” he said.
McCarthy’s political rise
It’s no secret McCarthy has wanted this for a while, and his history makes clear his aspirations.
Congressman David Valadao, R-Hanford, McCarthy’s friend and district neighbor, made it clear that McCarthy said he’d do what he needed to become speaker. “In the caucus room this morning, he was very clear on, ‘what do you need?’” he said.
After the second round of votes in which McCarthy fell, Valadao said of detractors, “It’s sad that they are hindering their own party.”
McCarthy, born and raised in Bakersfield, knew quickly he wanted to enter politics.
He started working for former Republican Congressman Bill Thomas when he was earning degrees from California State University, Bakersfield. He was on staff for 15 years before he joined the California State Assembly in 2002, and quickly became the chamber’s minority leader for his final two years.
He left the Assembly when he assumed his congressional role in 2007. His former boss retired from Congress and endorsed McCarthy to take the seat. (Thomas later criticized McCarthy for not immediately accepting the results of the 2020 election and failure to fully publicly remand Trump for the insurrection.)
McCarthy has never had a tough congressional election since he first ran in 2006; in 2022, he earned 67% of the votes.
In Congress, McCarthy quickly rose to the GOP’s third in command as the majority whip in 2011, and became majority leader in 2014. When Democrats took over the House in 2019, he became minority leader.
His constituents in California’s new 20th Congressional District hoped his ascension to speaker could amplify voices on San Joaquin Valley issues: water access, air quality, homelessness and health care.
The staunchly-Republican 20th, redrawn through the once-a-decade process of redistricting, is the Central Valley’s oddest-looking congressional district. The 20th captures Millerton and Clovis in its top arm and extends out to Lemoore in a second arm. It runs south to Rosamond then stretches west to hold Maricopa and half of Bakersfield in a third arm. Clovis and a sliver of Fresno around Fresno State also fall in the district.
This story was originally published January 3, 2023 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Kevin McCarthy’s road to Speaker of the House is bumpy and unclear after 3 failed votes."
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