House re-elects Mike Johnson as Speaker after dramatic vote - New Jersey Globe (original) (raw)

House Speaker Mike Johnson was narrowly re-elected to his post atop the U.S. House of Representatives today, albeit in a rather unusual and dramatic fashion.

It appeared at first that Johnson had failed to recapture the Speakership after three of his fellow Republicans opposed him; in the razor-thin GOP House majority, Johnson could only afford one defection. But two of his detractors, Texas’s Keith Self and South Carolina’s Ralph Norman, later went on to change their votes in his favor, giving him just enough support to be elected.

The final tally was 218 votes for Johnson, 215 votes for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries – representing the entire House Democratic caucus – and one vote for Republican Tom Emmer. Republicans had initially planned on moving ahead with a second Speaker vote this afternoon, but Self’s and Norman’s decision to switch their votes obviated that necessity.

In the New Jersey delegation, every member voted with the majority of their party: all nine House Democrats from the Garden State supported Jeffries, and all three Republicans supported Johnson. Three New Jersey members cast their first-ever votes for Speaker: Reps-elect. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) and Herb Conaway (D-Delran) and Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark), all for Jeffries.

That’s the same tally as almost every prior Speaker vote within the last two years – all 19 of them. In the multi-balloted Speaker elections in January and October 2023, all nine New Jersey House Democrats (some of them the current members’ predecessors) and all three New Jersey Republicans voted for their respective parties’ nominees, except for one instance in October in which Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) opposed hardline Republican Jim Jordan.

Kean voted for Johnson today, as did fellow GOP Reps. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) and Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis); in a statement, Kean said Johnson’s strong first year as Speaker easily warranted giving him another term.

“Speaker Johnson has done an outstanding job that earned him re-election today,” Kean said. “I look forward to continue working with him on behalf of the New Jerseyans I represent to make life more affordable, our communities safe, and our country prosperous.”

Before today’s vote, Pou expressed a sentiment that has been common among Democrats ever since the GOP retook the majority two years ago: it’s Republicans’ duty to keep their own caucus in line, and Democrats will be waiting to get to work once they do.

“I’m going to let the Republicans, who were elected and have the majority, select their own leader. It’s their responsibility,” she said. “We’re here to do our job, and we’re prepared to do whatever it takes for us to get the job done.”

This story was initially posted at 2:27 p.m. with the news that Johnson had failed to become Speaker; it was taken down shortly afterwards and heavily edited once Self and Norman had switched their votes, allowing Johnson to be elected on the first ballot.