Republican Mike Johnson is the new House speaker. Here’s how SC’s representatives voted
After more than three weeks without a House speaker, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, of Louisiana, was finally elected to the role. And all but one South Carolina representative supported Johnson becoming second in line to the presidency.
South Carolina’s lone Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn voted with fellow Democrats for Rep. Hakeem Jefferies, D-NY, who received 209 votes. Johnson received 220 votes, just more than the 215-vote majority needed to be elected speaker.
The six South Carolina Republicans in the House, U.S. Reps. Jeff Duncan, Russell Fry, Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman, William Timmons and Joe Wilson, voted for Johnson.
The election of Johnson comes 22 days after Mace, along with seven other Republicans and all of the House Democrats ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy from the job. After McCarthy was removed, the Republican House majority struggled to come to a consensus on a final candidate.
Mace’s vote sparked backlash against her from colleagues and raising concerns surrounding why she actually voted the way she did.
Ever since being the only South Carolina Republican to vote to oust McCarthy, Mace has voted along with the rest of the GOP membership.
The Republican Party went on a chaotic search for the next speaker, first nominating Steve Scalise of Louisiana, and then having him drop out. Jim Jordan of Ohio was their second nominee, and Republicans unsuccessfully tried to vote him in three times. After the third round of voting, Republicans dropped Jordan from consideration.
Nine Republicans then jumped into the race and the party nominated Tom Emmer of Minnesota. Former President Donald Trump took to his social media site, Truth Social, and said “voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!” Hours after he was nominated, Emmer dropped out.
Tuesday evening, Johnson was nominated by the party and Wednesday the House Republicans unanimously voted him in.
Johnson was elected in 2016 and is a constitutional lawyer. He is known for his role in devising an argument for Trump to stay in office after he lost the 2020 election. He is also known for his opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, and voted against codifying same-sex marriage.
Wednesday’s successful vote was the 19th House speaker vote taken this year, with 15 rounds to vote McCarthy in, three for Jordan and one for Johnson.
This story was originally published October 25, 2023 at 1:59 PM.