[UPDATE 5]
Moderates okay with Mike Johnson?? Two are…
[UPDATE 4]
Mike Johnson feels very confident he can get to 217. I love his optimism but we’ve heard it before. That said, I hope he’s right:
[UPDATE 3]
19 members didn’t bother to show up for the roll call vote and now Johnson wants to reach out to them, hoping to get to the floor for a vote tomorrow afternoon:
I don’t know how many opposed Johnson, but it sounds like it’s at least 19 and that’s not good for his candidacy.
[UPDATE 2]
The third ballot is over and there is a nominee. It is Mike Johnson from Louisiana:
But can he get to 217? There is a roll call vote ongoing to figure this out. It would seem unlikely, but we shall see.
[UPDATE 1]
The second ballot is over and Johnson has increased his lead over the other candidates. However ‘other’ is also getting more votes:
“Johnson – 97, Donalds – 31, Green – 21, Williams – 20, Other – 34”
The first secret ballot is over in the Republican caucus and we still don’t have a nominee, but there is a clear winner.
Below is the lineup:
“Johnson – 85, Donalds – 32, Green – 23, Williams – 21, Fleischmann – 10, Other – 31, Present – 2”
Notice 31 votes went to ‘other’. That’s likely the RINO caucus and that tells me we still won’t get to 217 when a nominee is chosen.
[EARLIER POST]
After the Emmer disaster this morning – for which I’m grateful that he didn’t win – we now have five candidates running for Republican House Speaker.
Byron Donalds (FL), Chuck Fleischmann (TN), Mark Green (TN), Mike Johnson (LA), and Roger Williams (TX) are the current candidates and they are in a candidate forum now making their cases to be speaker.
Kevin Hern was on the list, but he has now dropped out of the race and is supporting Mike Johnson.
According to Sherman, Republicans plan on voting tonight in another secret ballot to see who will be the nominee:
If House Republicans select a nominee who has 217 votes in the caucus, they still won’t be voting on the floor tonight:
Stay tuned for the news on the future nominee…