In a historic series of events, the House of Representatives had multiple rounds of voting to elect the new Speaker of the House for the first time in over one hundred years. Due to the most recent midterm elections in November of 2023, the Republican party was able to take the majority in the House from the Democratic party, which led the country to believe that Republican Nominee Kevin McCarthy would take Nancy Pelosi’s position as the Speaker of the House easily. However, when it came time for the House members to vote, McCarthy could not achieve the necessary two-hundred and eighteen votes required to be elected as Speaker of the House. 

McCarthy was mainly up against three other nominees, Hakeem Jefferies of the Democratic Party, and fellow Republicans Andy Biggs and Jim Jordan. During the first round of voting on January 3rd, 2023, the democrats unanimously voted for Rep. Jefferies, amounting to a total of two-hundred and twelve votes. However, the Republican party was divided, only awarding two-hundred and three votes to Rep. McCarthy and ten of the votes being awarded to Rep. Biggs. On the same day, two more rounds of voting occurred, with the third and final round resulting in two hundred and twelve votes for Rep. Jefferies, two hundred and two votes for Rep. McCarthy, and twenty votes going to Rep. Jim Jordan. 

This pattern continued for the next couple of days. On January 4th, 5th, and 6th, three rounds per day and once again, racking the total number of voting rounds up to fourteen. By round fourteen, there was still little to no change in the outcomes. On January 7th, there was finally a decision made. During the fifteenth official round of voting, and multiple different adjustments to the amount of votes required to win, McCarthy took the race with two-hundred and sixteen votes. Jefferies followed closely behind, with, once again, a total of two-hundred and twelve votes. 

Now, Kevin McCarthy is the official Speaker of the House, and will be until there is another election declared. The House, under his direction, is already beginning to divide into committees and deciding what issues they’re going to start focusing on in the new year. Now that there was so much happening surrounding the House election, the entire nation will be carefully watching what the House does next, waiting to see how they will help run our country for the coming years.