WASHINGTON — Republican Kevin McCarthy was increasingly confident Friday that he’ll gain the additional votes he needs to be elected as House speaker after converting some of the holdouts that had blocked him over the previous three days.
“We’re going to win,” McCarthy said.
The House adjourned until 10 p.m. Eastern time Friday so that McCarthy and his allies could seal the deal. After the 12th and 13th round of balloting Friday afternoon, McCarthy flipped 15 of the 21 Republicans who withheld their support. With the GOP holding a narrow 222-212 majority, he still will need at least two of the six remaining holdouts, depending on absences, to win on a 14th ballot. That would be the longest round of speaker votes since 1859.
