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Needed to win: Majority of the votes cast 433 votes cast, 217 needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On January 3, 2017, the first day of the115th United States Congress and two months after the2016 U.S. House elections, the incoming members of theU.S. House of Representatives held an election forspeaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. This was the 125thU.S. speaker election since the office was created in 1789.
The, incumbent speaker HouseRepublican leaderPaul Ryan, received 239 votes, a majority of the chamber, and retained the speakership. HouseDemocratic leaderNancy Pelosi garnered 189 votes, with 5 more votes going to a scattering of others. As only 433 representatives in the 435-member House cast a vote (with two members not casting votes), 217 votes were necessary in order to win.
Thespeaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer of theUnited States House of Representatives. The House elects its speaker at the beginning of a new Congress (i.e.biennially, aftera general election) or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from the position intra-term. Since 1839, the House has elected speakers byroll call vote.[1] Traditionally, eachparty's caucus or conference selects a candidate for the speakership from among its senior leaders prior to the roll call. Representatives are not restricted to voting for the candidate nominated by their party, but generally do, as the outcome of the election effectively determines which party has themajority and consequently will organize the House.[2] Representatives that choose to vote for someone other than their party's nominated candidate usually vote for another member within the party or vote "present".
Moreover, as the Constitution does not explicitly state that the speaker must be anincumbent 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.[3] Nevertheless, every person elected speaker has been a member.[2]
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. At the time, it happened most recently in January 2015 (114th Congress), whenJohn 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.[2] Multiple roll calls have been necessary only 15 times since 1789; and, at the time, not since 1923 (68th Congress), when a closely divided House needed nine ballots to electFrederick H. Gillett speaker.[4] Upon winning election the new speaker is immediately sworn in by theDean of the United States House of Representatives, the chamber's longest-serving member.[5][6]
Nancy Pelosi of California andTim Ryan of Ohio ran in theHouse Democratic Caucus' vote to select its leader and nominee for speaker.[7] Pelosi had led the House Democratic Caucus since 2003.[8] There had also been some who had urgedJoe Crowley of New York to challenge Pelosi, but he instead opted to run for the position of House Democratic Caucus chairman, which was being vacated by outgoing congressmanXavier Becerra.[9]
The result of the November 30, 2016 vote was:[7]
| Candidate | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Nancy Pelosi | 134 | 68.02% |
| Tim Ryan | 63 | 31.98% |
Ryan's share of the vote was seen as indicating a degree of disapproval within the House Democratic Caucus towards Pelosi's leadership.[7]
On November 15, 2016, incumbent speakerPaul Ryan was renominated by theHouse Republican Conference without opposition.[10]
| Candidate | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Ryan | — | 100% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Paul Ryan (WI 1) (incumbent) | 239 | 55.19 | |
| Democratic | Nancy Pelosi (CA 12) | 189 | 43.65 | |
| Democratic | Tim Ryan (OH 13) | 2 | 0.47 | |
| Democratic | Jim Cooper (TN 5) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Democratic | John Lewis (GA 5) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Republican | Dan Webster (FL 10) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Total votes | 433 | 100 | ||
| Votes necessary | 217 | >50 | ||
Ryan did not cast a vote in the election, while Pelosi did.[12]
Representatives voting for someone other than their party's speaker nominee were:[11]
■ Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who voted for Webster
■Jim Cooper of Tennessee andKathleen Rice of New York, who voted for Tim Ryan
■Ron Kind of Wisconsin, who voted for Jim Cooper
■Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who voted for Lewis
Representatives that did not cast votes were:
■ Paul Ryan of Wisconsin
■Kurt Schrader of Oregon
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