Johnson secures Speaker’s chair after vote ‘gyrations’

WASHINGTON – Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) was reelected as Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 119th Congress in a nail-biting first ballot.

Johnson secured the speakership 218-215-1.

Reps. Stephanie Bice (R-Oklahoma City), Frank Lucas (R-Cheyenne), Tom Cole (R-Moore), Kevin Hern (R-Tulsa) and Josh Brecheen (R-Ada) all voted for Johnson.

“I think the right thing ultimately happened,” Lucas said. “But as has been the case for a number of years now, we have to go through the most amazing gyrations to get to the right thing.”

After the ballot closed and Johnson had officially won his reelection bid, Cole expressed gratitude that Johnson was reelected on the first ballot rather than the fifteen it took to elect a speaker at the start of the 118th Congress.

“With a consequential Congress before us, I am proud to congratulate my friend and colleague, Speaker Mike Johnson,” Cole said in a statement. “The American people gave us a mandate, and I have full faith in Speaker Mike Johnson’s ability to help us deliver it.”

In an interview with ABC News after the vote, Hern said everything worked out and they can move on to enacting President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.

Brecheen had previously stated his support for Johnson in a social media post.

“I will be voting for Mike Johnson as Speaker on Jan. 3, and any report suggesting otherwise is dead wrong,” Brecheen wrote on X.

Initially, six Republicans–who later voted for Johnson–did not vote and three voted against Johnson.

When votes were first cast, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) voted for Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-South Carolina) voted for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) voted for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida).

After the roll call vote on the floor, it appeared Johnson would not reach the 218-vote threshold on the first ballot.

However, the ballot stayed open for nearly two hours giving Johnson time to continue persuading defectors to change their votes.

Before the ballot closed, Johnson went to whip the votes of Norman and Self according to Bice who remained confident Johnson would be reelected on the first ballot.

“I think the fact that there’s only three individuals that voted for someone other than Speaker Johnson is a good sign,” Bice said. “One of those has been pretty vocal in his opposition to voting for Speaker Johnson, which is Mr. Massie, but the other two, I think we’ll get there.”

Cole told Gaylord News he did not know how Johnson convinced them to change their votes.

“I assume it was his record as Speaker and his persuasive ways,” Cole said.

But Trump also spoke to Self and Norman to convince them to change their minds.

“We had a lively conversation,” Self told reporters when asked about his conversation with Trump.

NOTUS reported that Trump also helped convince Norman by saying only Johnson could win because “he’s likable.”

Ultimately, Self and Norman chose to change their votes and vote in favor of Johnson, giving him the majority he needed.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) received 215 votes. Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota) received one vote.

Massie kept his vote for Emmer. Massie said he would not vote for Johnson in December due to past tensions and concerns about the continuing resolution.

On Jan. 2, Massie told former Congressman and current One America News Network host, Matt Gaetz, he remained opposed to Johnson even if Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) was named chair of the House Rules Committee.

“You can pull all my fingernails out, you can shove bamboo up in them, you can start cutting off my fingers,” Massie said. “I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow, and you can take that to the bank.”

Michael Buchanan and Madeline Cantrell contributed to this report.

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more stories by Gaylord News go to GaylordNews.net