Florida Rep Byron Donalds is finding himself at the centre of speculation over a Vice Presidential bid after a half-hearted run for Speaker of the House ended in his defeat and the election of Rep Mike Johnson, a relative unknown, to the House’s top spot.
House Republicans finally ended a weeks-long stalemate and elected a new Speaker last week after the successful ouster of Kevin McCarthy by a contingent of right-wing conservatives in the chamber earlier this month. Mr Donalds, a second-term congressman who (like Mr Johnson) has never served in GOP leadership or as a committee chair, was among the names floated as a candidate for the job. He officially entered the race after several candidates had risen and fallen before the caucus, but declined to form an operation to whip votes in his favour and saw defeat in a closed-door conference meeting.
