Nine Republican candidates have entered the race for House Speaker after the removal of Rep. Jim Jordan as the nominee. However, only two of these candidates voted to certify the 2020
election results, which has led to questions regarding their support in the speaker battle.
Following the ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans have struggled to unite around a single candidate to fill the vacant speaker position. Despite Rep. Jim Jordan undergoing three rounds of voting on the House floor, he experienced a decline in support with each vote.
The nine candidates vying for the position of House Speaker include House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), and Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala).
Both Emmer and Scott voted to certify the 2020 election results and issued statements condemning the events of January 6, 2021, when a group of former President Donald Trump's supporters attempted to obstruct Congress' certification of the 2020 presidential election and President Joe Biden's victory.
Emmer emphasized that Congress lacked the authority to disregard state electoral results, asserting that doing so would set a concerning precedent that undermines the state-based election system defining the Republic.
Rep. Kevin Buck (R-Colo.), who openly opposed Jordan's nomination as Speaker due to his refusal to acknowledge Trump's loss in 2020, voted for Emmer in all three speaker elections. In 2021, Scott stated that his decision to support the Electoral College was a fulfillment of his constitutional oath.
The remaining candidates, including Hern, Donalds, Bergman, Johnson, Sessions, Meuser, and Palmer, voted to contest the election results, primarily targeting the outcomes in Arizona and Pennsylvania. A total of 147 Congress members objected to certifying the 2020 election results, with some demanding legal proceedings to resolve election-related concerns. For example, Hern supported those with legitimate concerns about the integrity of the election system.
It is important to note that widespread fraud was not found in the 2020 election, even in critical swing states like Pennsylvania and Arizona. Photo by Office of the Speaker of the House, Wikimedia commons.