Byron Donalds Picks up Votes as Kevin McCarthy Fails to Secure Majority for House Speaker

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – Kevin McCarthy’s, R-CA, long-held hopes of becoming Speaker of the House on Wednesday were quickly dashed as the number of Republicans opposing him actually increased from 20 to 21. Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida picked up nearly all of those votes with 20 Republicans selecting him as their choice for speaker and one other voting present. 

Two days into the newly elected 118th Congress, Republicans have thus far been unable to select a new Speaker of the House.

The GOP frontrunner for the job, McCarthy, has been unable to reach the 218 vote threshold required to be elected speaker.

The Republicans have a slim 222 majority in the House of Representatives, meaning McCarthy can only afford to lose 4 votes from his own party. 

On Tuesday, after three rounds of voting, a whopping 20 House Republicans voted against McCarthy and for other candidates such as Jim Jordan (R-OH), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Byron Donalds (R-FL). 

Originally, Donalds had voted for McCarthy in the first two rounds of voting. However, after McCarthy failed to increase his vote share after the second ballot on Tuesday, Donalds changed his vote to Congressman Jim Jordan in the third round. 

In a Fox News interview, Donalds said he changed his vote to Jordan because he doesn’t believe McCarthy has the necessary votes.

“I voted for Kevin on the first two ballots, and it’s just not clear that he has the votes,” he said.

Donalds spoke about the chaotic situation within the House on CNN.

“But what this is about is having a deliberative conversation about what leadership is going to be like in the nation’s capitol, in the House of Representatives,” Donalds said. “For far too long in this town, too many things have been by acclamation and that’s actually not worked for the American people.”

The resistance to McCarthy’s bid for Speaker has not softened in the slightest, with every member opposed to his election on Tuesday continuing to hold their ground Wednesday. This time, all 20 voting for Congressman Byron Donalds including the Florida Representative himself as well as one “present” vote.

As of Wednesday afternoon, McCarthy suffered defeat in six rounds of voting in the last two days.