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On January 3, 2019, the first day of the116th United States Congress and two months after the2018 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 126thU.S. speaker election since the office was created in 1789.
HouseDemocratic leaderNancy Pelosi received 220 votes, a majority of the chamber, to become its speaker. HouseRepublican leaderKevin McCarthy garnered 192 votes, with 18 more going to others. As only 430 representatives in the 435-member House cast a vote (due to vacancies, absentees, or members being present but not voting), 216 votes were necessary in order to win.
Immediately after the election, theDean of the United States House of Representatives,Don Young, administered theoath of office to the new speaker. Pelosi in turn administered the oath of officeen masse to the rest of the members of the United States House of Representatives.
Incumbent speakerPaul Ryan did not run for re-election to the House.[1] With the Democratic caucus assuming control of the House in January 2019, Pelosi had been thespeaker-presumptive since the incomingHouse Democratic Caucus formally nominated her the previous November.
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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] Nevertheless, every person elected speaker has been a member.[3]
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.[3] 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.[5] 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.[6][7]
During the midterm election campaign, there were indications that many of the incoming Democrats would not support party leaderNancy Pelosi for the speakership. After taking back the House in November,Ohio Rep.Marcia Fudge was mentioned as a possible alternative. However, she quickly bowed out after being offered the chairmanship of theHouse Administration Subcommittee on Elections. Other possible defectors, including incoming New York Rep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, later publicly declared their support for Pelosi.
The Democratic caucus vote was held on November 28, 2018; as Pelosi was the only declared candidate, the vote was presented as a single question of approval.[13]
| Candidate | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
Yes Y | 203 | 85.29% |
| No | 32 | 13.45% |
| Blank ballots | 3 | 1.26% |
The race for the leadership of the House Republicans began well before Ryan's official announcement, as it had been rumored for months.
U.S. Representatives
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Jim Jordan | Steve Scalise | Kevin McCarthy | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Economist/YouGov[25] | September 30 – October 2, 2018 | 1,500 | ±2.9% | 18% | 16% | 8% | 1% | 45% |
| Morning Consult/Politico[26] | August 10–12, 2018 | 1,992 | ±2.0% | 11% | 9% | 18% | – | – |
The Republican Caucus vote was held on November 14, 2018, electing McCarthy to serve their leader during the 116th Congress.[27]
| Candidate | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Kevin McCarthyY | 159 | 78.7% |
| Jim Jordan | 43 | 21.3% |
In the run-up to the election, Pelosi was able to secure enough support to ensure her the speakership, though there were still a few holdouts.[28] She accomplished this by, among other things, pledging to limit her time as speaker to four years (two two-year terms) at most.[29]
Upon convening at the start of the 116th Congress, the House proceeded to elect its speaker byroll call vote, with theClerk presiding.Rodney Davis (R-IL),Virginia Foxx (R-NC),Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) andZoe Lofgren (D-CA) were appointed to serve as tellers to tabulate the vote.[30] Ultimately, Pelosi received 220 of the 430 votes cast, though 15 Democrats chose to vote for someone else. Republicans, with six exceptions, voted for party leader McCarthy, who garnered 192 votes.[31] The vote count in the January 3, 2019 speaker of the House election was:[3]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Nancy Pelosi (CA 12) | 220 | 51.17 | |
| Republican | Kevin McCarthy (CA 23) | 192 | 44.66 | |
| Republican | Jim Jordan (OH 4) | 5 | 1.16 | |
| Democratic | Cheri Bustos (IL 17) | 4 | 0.93 | |
| Democratic | Tammy Duckworth | 2 | 0.47 | |
| Democratic | Stacey Abrams | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Democratic | Joe Biden | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Democratic | Marcia Fudge (OH 11) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Democratic | Joe Kennedy III (MA 4) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Democratic | John Lewis (GA 5) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Republican | Thomas Massie (KY 4) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Democratic | Stephanie Murphy (FL 7) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Total votes | 430 | 100 | ||
| Votes necessary | 216 | >50 | ||
Representatives voting for someone other than their party's speaker nominee were:[32]
■ Andy Biggs andPaul Gosar of Arizona;Jody Hice of Georgia;Thomas Massie of Kentucky; andScott Perry of Pennsylvania voted for Jim Jordan;
■ Joe Cunningham of South Carolina;Jared Golden of Maine;Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey; andAbigail Spanberger of Virginia voted for Cheri Bustos;
■ Jason Crow of Colorado andMax Rose of New York voted for Tammy Duckworth, who was not a member of the House at the time;
■ Kathleen Rice of New York voted forStacey Abrams, who was not a member of the House at the time;
■ Anthony Brindisi of New York voted forJoe Biden, who was not a member of the House at the time;
■ Kurt Schrader of Oregon voted for Marcia Fudge;
■ Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania voted forJoe Kennedy III;
■ Ron Kind of Wisconsin voted for John Lewis;
■ Justin Amash of Michigan voted for Thomas Massie;
■ Ben McAdams of Utah voted for Stephanie Murphy.
Additionally, three Democrats answeredpresent when their name was called:[32]
■ Jim Cooper of Tennessee;Elissa Slotkin of Michigan; andJeff Van Drew of New Jersey.
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