WASHINGTON — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy fell short of the necessary number of Republican votes to succeed Nancy Pelosi as speaker in an initial roll call Tuesday, and appeared set to become the first majority party leader in a century to fail to secure the speakership on the first ballot.
The vote is a clear sign of the divisions in the Republican Party. It is also a potential blow to California. Instead of handing off power and influence from a California Democrat in Pelosi to a California Republican in McCarthy, both leaders could be relegated to the back benches of Congress — one by choice and the other by force.
The House speaker election hasn’t required multiple ballots on a floor vote since 1923, when then-Rep. Frederick Gillett, R-Mass., was elected speaker on the ninth ballot.
