Politics

25 Republicans Rebel Against Boehner, Who Still Wins Speaker Vote

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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WASHINGTON — Twenty-five House Republicans publicly rebelled against John Boehner on Tuesday, voting for another candidate for speaker during Tuesday’s public floor vote but ultimately failing to prevent the Ohio Republican from winning re-election to the leadership post.

While these conservatives didn’t stop Boehner as they hoped, they will likely argue their votes sent a message of displeasure with the current GOP leadership.

Prior to the vote, at least 15 disaffected conservative House Republicans publicly said they would oppose Boehner. Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and Florida Rep. Ted Yoho both offered themselves as alternative candidates for speaker, hoping to draw votes away from Boehner. Florida Rep. Daniel Webster was also nominated before the vote, garnering a surprising 12 votes.

Out of the 408 votes cast, Boehner won a slim majority of 216 votes.

Other surprising votes went to Sens. Rand Paul and Jeff Sessions. Some in the crowd on the floor chuckled when no-votes were announced.

Many of these conservatives are upset with Boehner over the recent budget deal at the end of last year, saying he failed to adequately use the opportunity to fight President Obama’s recent unilateral action on immigration. This conservative wing of the House has also long clashed with Boehner over the last few years over a variety of other political issues.

Though ousting Boehner was seen as a long shot endeavor from the start, the hope of the anti-Boehner bloc had been for enough Republicans to deny Boehner a majority of the vote on the first ballot, with the thinking that it would cause him to drop out of the race. Under that scenario, these conservatives hoped a consensus alternative for speaker would step up.

Those that voted against Boehner on Tuesday:

1. Rep. Justin Amash voted for Jim Jordan
2. Rep. Brian Babin voted for present
3. Rep. Rod Blum voted for Daniel Webster
4. Rep. Dave Brat voted for Jeff Duncan
5. Rep. Jim Bridenstine voted for Louie Gohmert
6. Rep. Curt Clawson voted for Rand Paul
7. Rep. Scott DesJarlais voted for Jim Jordan
8. Rep. Jeff Duncan voted for Trey Gowdy
9. Rep. Scott Garrett voted for Daniel Webster
10. Rep. Chris Gibson voted for Kevin McCarthy
11. Rep. Louie Gohmert voted Louie Gohmert
12. Rep. Paul Gosar voted for Daniel Webster
13. Rep. Tim Huelskamp voted for Daniel Webster
14. Rep. Walter Jones voted Daniel Webster
15. Rep. Steve King voted Daniel Webster
16. Rep. Thomas Massie voted Ted Yoho
17. Rep. Mark Meadows voted Daniel Webster
18. Rep. Rich Nugent voted Daniel Webster
19. Rep. Gary Palmer voted Jeff Sessions
20. Rep. Bill Posey voted Daniel Webster
21. Rep. Scott Rigell voted Daniel Webster
22. Rep. Marlin Stutzman voted Daniel Webster
23. Rep. Randy Weber voted Gohmert
24. Rep. Daniel Webster voted Daniel Webster
25. Rep. Ted Yoho voted Ted Yoho

Those efforts were hurt by the fact that a number of Democrats skipped the vote to attend former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo’s funeral. Snowy weather in D.C. may have also prevented some from making the trip to the Capitol. Fewer Democrats voting made it easier for Boehner to win a majority of votes cast for a candidate.

Some Democrats also voted against Nancy Pelosi as their leader:

1. Rep. Jim Cooper voted Colin Powell
2. Rep. Gwen Graham voted for Jim Cooper
3. Rep. Dan Lipinski voted for Peter DeFazio
4. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema voted for John Lewis

One Republican who had been championed by conservatives as a possible alternative to Boehner was South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy. But the Republican was absent from the vote on Tuesday, explaining he got caught in bad weather trying to get back to Washington. “Had our flight not been cancelled, I would have voted for our Conference nominee, John Boehner,” Gowdy said in a statement.

The public floor vote is usually just a formality. After the elections this November, Republicans gathered behind closed doors to select Boehner as their nominee for speaker. No one else was nominated to run against Boehner during that session.

Boehner has been speaker since 2011.

Asked last week about possible repercussions for members who voted against Boehner, spokesman Michael Steel told TheDC that Boehner has said publicly there will be no punishment for those who do not support him in the public vote.

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