WASHINGTON: Kevin McCarthy, the Republican candidate for speakership of the US House of Representatives, failed on Tuesday to secure a majority after hard-right lawmakers refused to vote for him.

The first vote leaves the race for the top job in the House wide open, although the Republican Party takes control of the chamber.

The Republican leadership immediately launched efforts to unite the party for a second vote.

Mr McCarthy, a California Republican, needed 218 votes to become the speaker, but he received only 203. Nineteen Republicans voted for other conservative candidates who never had a chance to win.

McCarthy, however, vowed to continue his bid for the speakership, forcing multiple votes if necessary until he wins.

The US media speculated that most renegade Republicans would support Mr McCarthy in the second vote after having shown their strength in the House as they would not allow a Democrat to take the House.

The Republicans had won a thin majority in the House in the November mid-term elections. This was the first meeting of the newly elected chamber.

The rebellion among hard-right lawmakers prompted a historic struggle on the floor at the dawn of the new Republican majority. Ultra-conserva­tive Republicans had vowed to oppose Mr McCarthy soon after the elections.

And Tuesday’s vote exposed deep divisions within the party that will not only strengthen their rival Democrats in the House, but may also help them in the general election next year.

This is for the first time in a century that a candidate failed to get the necessary 218 votes on the first ballot for speaker.

Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel appeared on Fox News after the vote and said the McCarthy drama would hurt the party’s chances to win back the White House.

“As long as we’re fighting each other, we are not keeping our eyes on the prize,” she said. “We have to get this speakership settled and we have to go forward if we want to be successful in 2024.”

The New York Times, while commenting on the leadership’s effort to unite the party, commented that it’s not clear “how many of the members who voted for (others) as a protest in the first round will shift to McCarthy in the second”.

Mr McCarthy needs to persuade at least 12 Republicans to switch their votes and “that’s not an easy task. It’s not like he just had to peel off one or two people”, the newspaper added.

Josh Brecheen, a Republi­can from Oklahoma, was the first to vote against the party’s candidate. And 31 Republicans had voted “no” to nominating Kevin McCarthy for the position back in November.

The Democratic candidate Hakeem Jeffries, won nine more votes than Mr. McCarthy in the first ballot vote. Mr Jeffries won 212 votes against just 203 for Mr McCarthy, but that doesn’t mean he’ll become speaker. The results will likely change in the second vote.

Earlier, outgoing speaker Nancy Pelosi received a standing ovation when she came to vote for Mr Jeffries.

Published in Dawn, january 4th, 2023