Today, Republican members of the House of Representatives met for a special party conference to select a candidate to replace Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) as the Speaker of the House, who announced his resignation last week, effective Oct. 29. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was thought to have support from the majority of the party, but, unexpectedly, announced this morning that he was exiting the race. At a press conference, Leader McCarthy stated the party needed a “new face” and someone the conference could unite behind; the underlying message being he did not believe that all members of his party were committed to putting their personal agendas aside and uniting behind his leadership to achieve goals in their battles against the Obama administration.
McCarthy’s exit from the race opens opportunities for others to run for the Speakership. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) plan to remain candidates for the job. Other candidates will likely step forward in the near future.
Following Leader McCarthy’s comments, Speaker Boehner announced that the race for Speaker has been postponed. He also announced that he would remain Speaker until a successor is selected.
Today’s GOP meeting was designed as an effort for Republicans to identify the party’s nominee to run against Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for Speaker.
For more information, please contact Jeff Shoaf at shoafj@agc.org or (202) 547-3350.