2019 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election
Updated: 11/6/2025, 1:09:06 AM Wikipedia source
On January 3, 2019, the first day of the 116th United States Congress and two months after the 2018 U.S. House elections, the incoming members of the U.S. House of Representatives held an election for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. This was the 126th U.S. speaker election since the office was created in 1789. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi received 220 votes, a majority of the chamber, to become its speaker. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy garnered 192 votes, with 18 more going to others. As only 430 representatives in the 435-member House cast a vote (due to vacancies, absentees, or members being present but not voting), 216 votes were necessary in order to win. Immediately after the election, the Dean of the United States House of Representatives, Don Young, administered the oath of office to the new speaker. Pelosi in turn administered the oath of office en masse to the rest of the members of the United States House of Representatives. Incumbent speaker Paul Ryan did not run for re-election to the House. With the Democratic caucus assuming control of the House in January 2019, Pelosi had been the speaker-presumptive since the incoming House Democratic Caucus formally nominated her the previous November.
Infobox
Candidate
Others
Party
Democratic
Leader's seat
California 12th
Members' vote
18
Percentage
4.19%
Tables
· Democratic Party › Results
Yes Y
Yes Y
Candidate
Yes Y
Votes
203
Percent
85.29%
No
No
Candidate
No
Votes
32
Percent
13.45%
Blank ballots
Blank ballots
Candidate
Blank ballots
Votes
3
Percent
1.26%
| Candidate | Votes | Percent |
| Yes Y | 203 | 85.29% |
| No | 32 | 13.45% |
| Blank ballots | 3 | 1.26% |
· Republican Party › Polling
The Economist/YouGov
The Economist/YouGov
Poll source
The Economist/YouGov
Date(s)administered
September 30 – October 2, 2018
Samplesize
1,500
Marginof error
±2.9%
JimJordan
18%
SteveScalise
16%
KevinMcCarthy
8%
Other
1%
Undecided
45%
Morning Consult/Politico
Morning Consult/Politico
Poll source
Morning Consult/Politico
Date(s)administered
August 10–12, 2018
Samplesize
1,992
Marginof error
±2.0%
JimJordan
11%
SteveScalise
9%
KevinMcCarthy
18%
Other
–
Undecided
–
| Poll source | Date(s)administered | Samplesize | Marginof error | JimJordan | SteveScalise | KevinMcCarthy | Other | Undecided |
| The Economist/YouGov | September 30 – October 2, 2018 | 1,500 | ±2.9% | 18% | 16% | 8% | 1% | 45% |
| Morning Consult/Politico | August 10–12, 2018 | 1,992 | ±2.0% | 11% | 9% | 18% | – | – |
· Republican Party › Results
Kevin McCarthy Y
Kevin McCarthy Y
Candidate
Kevin McCarthy Y
Votes
159
Percent
78.7%
Jim Jordan
Jim Jordan
Candidate
Jim Jordan
Votes
43
Percent
21.3%
| Candidate | Votes | Percent |
| Kevin McCarthy Y | 159 | 78.7% |
| Jim Jordan | 43 | 21.3% |
2019 election for speaker – 116th Congress[32] · Election of the speaker
Total votes
Total votes
Party
Total votes
Party
430
Candidate
100
Votes necessary
Votes necessary
Party
Votes necessary
Party
216
Candidate
>50
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Nancy Pelosi (CA 12) | 220 | 51.17 | |
| Republican | Kevin McCarthy (CA 23) | 192 | 44.66 | |
| Republican | Jim Jordan (OH 4) | 5 | 1.16 | |
| Democratic | Cheri Bustos (IL 17) | 4 | 0.93 | |
| Democratic | Tammy Duckworth | 2 | 0.47 | |
| Democratic | Stacey Abrams | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Democratic | Joe Biden | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Democratic | Marcia Fudge (OH 11) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Democratic | Joe Kennedy III (MA 4) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Democratic | John Lewis (GA 5) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Republican | Thomas Massie (KY 4) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Democratic | Stephanie Murphy (FL 7) | 1 | 0.23 | |
| Total votes | 430 | 100 | ||
| Votes necessary | 216 | >50 | ||
References
- Bbc.comhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43729218
- Heritage Guide to The Constitutionhttps://web.archive.org/web/20120421180046/http://www.heritage.org/constitution#!/articles/1/essays/10/speaker-of-the-house
- CRS Report for Congresshttps://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30857.pdf
- "John Boehner exit: Anyone can run for House speaker, even you"https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/Decoder/2015/0925/John-Boehner-exit-Anyone-can-run-for-House-speaker-even-you
- history.house.govhttp://history.house.gov/People/Office/Speakers-Multiple-Ballots/
- history.house.govhttps://history.house.gov/Institution/Seniority/Deans-of-the-House/
- constitution.laws.comhttps://constitution.laws.com/house-of-representatives/election-of-the-speaker
- Politico.comhttps://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/17/crowley-pelosi-house-democrats-526994
- AP NEWShttps://www.apnews.com/eb632f2553dd4db185b5aac91e1814c9
- New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/us/politics/nancy-pelosi-marcia-fudge-house-speaker.html
- Cnn.comhttps://www.cnn.com/2018/11/08/politics/hakeem-jeffries-democratic-caucus-chair-announcement/index.html
- Rolling Stonehttps://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/nancy-pelosi-speaker-fight-757178/
- The New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/us/politics/democrats-pelosi-takeaways.html
- Politico.comhttps://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/13/scalise-mccarthy-speaker-house-endorsement-523040
- Politicalwire.comhttps://politicalwire.com/2018/06/01/gop-braces-for-brutal-leadership-race/
- Twitter.comhttps://twitter.com/RepMarkMeadows/status/1022538370583601153
- Thinkprogress.orghttps://thinkprogress.org/jim-jordan-speaker-house-endorsed-mark-meadows-matt-gaetz-republicans-ohio-state-richard-strauss-788f423c48f7/
- Mobile.twitter.comhttps://mobile.twitter.com/replouiegohmert/status/1022546154561708033
- Mooney.house.govhttps://mooney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-alex-x-mooney-wv-2-statement-voting-rep-jim-jordan-house
- The Hillhttps://thehill.com/homenews/house/383984-freedomworks-backs-jim-jordan-for-house-speaker/
- Club for Growthhttps://www.clubforgrowth.org/press-release/club-for-growth-supports-cong-jim-jordan-for-speaker/
- TPPCFhttps://www.teapartypatriots.org/news/tea-party-patriots-citizens-fund-supports-rep-jim-jordan-for-speaker-of-the-house/
- Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2018/11/14/texas-republicans-split-votes-kevin-mccarthy-jim-jordan-leader
- Politico.comhttps://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/11/mccarthy-house-speaker-republicans-ryan-710720
- TheHill.comhttps://thehill.com/homenews/house/410995-poll-republicans-narrowly-prefer-jordan-to-lead-house-gop/
- Morningconsult.comhttps://morningconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180814_crosstabs_POLITICO_v1_DK-1.pdf
- The New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/us/politics/house-republican-leaders-kevin-mccarthy.html
- Fox Newshttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/never-nancy-dems-risk-election-backlash-for-flipping-on-pelosi-vote-in-1st-congressional-test
- Politicohttps://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/12/pelosi-strikes-deal-with-dem-rebels-paving-the-way-for-her-speakership-1059825
- "House Floor Activities: Legislative Days of January 03, 2019"http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/floor.aspx?day=20190103
- Roll Callhttps://web.archive.org/web/20190202223126/https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/pelosi-elected-speaker-15-democratic-defections
- Cong. Rec.https://www.congress.gov/116/crec/2019/01/03/CREC-2019-01-03.pdf