House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s speaker bid crashed and burned on Tuesday just hours after his party nominated him for the gavel amid deep divisions within the conference that began to appear insurmountable three weeks into the standoff.
And for other lawmakers, they simply didn’t believe Emmer could get the backing needed to secure the gavel.
Emmer narrowly won the party’s nomination on the fifth round of votes behind closed doors on Tuesday in a contest that began with seven candidates, with the lowest vote-getter being dropped each round.
Some of those candidates are expected to relaunch their bids for speaker in light of Emmer’s bowing out.
Johnson, who was elected in 2016 and serves as the vice chairman of the House GOP conference, made a pitch as a “consensus candidate” for speaker.
Persons:
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Organizations:
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Locations:
Dusty Johnson of South Dakota