# House Speaker Contest **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 12, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770 "2022-11-12T00:48:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/241 "2023-01-03T17:49:56Z")
Paul Gosar nominates Biggs as the QOP alternative ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/242 "2023-01-03T17:52:48Z")
With Gosar showing his hand it appears there will be more than the original 5 voting for Biggs. Gosar was not one named as part of that group. I wonder how many votes Biggs will attract. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/243 "2023-01-03T17:55:37Z")
looking over the audience it appears that a lot of people brought their kids. Just my humble opinion, but If you want to instill in you children an appreciation for the wonders of our system of government this is probably not the hearing to take them to. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/244 "2023-01-03T17:56:24Z")
Boebert just voted for Jordan? And someone else just voted for Banks? Neither of whom were nominated? This is a clusterfuck. ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/245 "2023-01-03T17:56:51Z")
Boebert votes for Jim Jordan. Who was the other wild card vote for? I missed it. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/246 "2023-01-03T17:58:10Z")
Voting for random people doesn’t actually change the math, right? McCarthy needs a majority of votes cast. Perhaps it’s all just performative and the hard-right crowd will vote Present on the second or third ballot? ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/247 "2023-01-03T17:58:54Z")
Another vote for Banks. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/248 "2023-01-03T17:59:14Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Perhaps it’s all just performative and the hard-right crowd will vote Present on the second or third ballot? That could give the Speakership to Jeffries. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/249 "2023-01-03T18:00:33Z")
Oh yeah… that doesn’t work. Unless it’s a very precise number, right? Like 2 of them? I forget the exact math (perhaps it’s up-thread, sorry). What a disaster for the GOP, especially considering Trump has strongly endorsed McCarthy. ETA: Either McCarthy is going to fall far short or Biggs may not even get the most non-McCarthy GOP votes. Jordan and Banks each have a few. ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/250 "2023-01-03T18:02:15Z")
The math just left McCarthy in the dust for the first vote. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/251 "2023-01-03T18:03:13Z")
Another vote for Jordan from Rep. Cloud(?). ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/252 "2023-01-03T18:03:25Z")
mccarthy is out of maths! jordan?!? seriously?!? ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/253 "2023-01-03T18:04:41Z")
I read someplace that if enough Republicans vote “present,” it could hand the speakership to Hakeem Jeffries. Matt Gaetz apparently doesn’t care–he’d rather have Jeffries than McCarthy. I suppose the Democrats could make a deal with McCarthy, voting present in exchange for some concessions, but I don’t know if I’d do it–I wouldn’t trust McCarthy. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/254 "2023-01-03T18:05:01Z")
Womp Womp… guess we’re going to the 2nd ballot (at least). ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/255 "2023-01-03T18:05:54Z")
Didn’t Jordan pretty explicitly say he doesn’t want the job? What is the fucking point of blowing up your own caucus by voting against the wishes of all of your party leadership _and_ the de facto leader of your party (Trump). ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/256 "2023-01-03T18:06:59Z")
Talking head on MSNBC said the opposition Pubs have a surprise nominee in the second round that they’re planning on rallying around. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/257 "2023-01-03T18:07:37Z")
Trump! No seriously I have no idea. Scalise is the only other name I’ve heard mooted - but that doesn’t seem like a big improvement for the far-right crowd. ETA: It would be hilarious though (Trump that is). Although Scalise back-stabbing McCarthy would be juicy too. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/258 "2023-01-03T18:09:03Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Didn’t Jordan pretty explicitly say he doesn’t want the job? What is the fucking point of blowing up your own caucus by voting against the wishes of all of your party leadership _and_ the de facto leader of your party (Trump). Supposedly they want McCarthy to give them more concessions (ie, weakening the role of Speaker). They could have voted Present, but enough of those could give the Speakership to Jefferies. So voting for someone who doesn’t want it is basically a Present that preserves a second ballot. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/259 "2023-01-03T18:12:17Z")
> [@gnarator](#): > > I read someplace that if enough Republicans vote “present,” it could hand the speakership to Hakeem Jeffries. According to the Washington Post: > [@](#): > > It’s not that the speaker must get the support of a majority of the chamber any more than any legislative vote requires 218 votes. Instead, the speaker simply needs to earn a majority of [votes cast](https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44243.pdf) “for a person by name,” like voting “Joseph Biden.” So if 20 legislators decide not to vote at all or vote “present,” which is not a name, only 208 votes of the 415 votes cast would be needed for a speaker to be elected. (There have also [been occasions](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPRACTICE-108/pdf/GPO-HPRACTICE-108-35.pdf) in which the House couldn’t reach agreement on a speaker, so they simply voted to allow a _plurality_ of cast votes to determine the speaker, though not recently.) Voting “present” removes yourself from the pool and the winner is the person who has greater than 50% of the pool. If (for example) the Democrats simply vote “Jeffries”, across the board, and the Republicans in the Problem Solvers Caucus all vote “present” then that could drop the total number of Republicans in the pool to a small enough percentage that Jeffries is elected. It doesn’t seem implausible. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/260 "2023-01-03T18:12:57Z")
remember there is an announcement asking if any member wants to change a vote before the gavel ends the vote. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=14)