One of the most unlikely scenarios regarding the election of a Republican House Speaker is that some moderate Republicans would join forces with some Democrats to elect a moderator speaker.
This scenario happened in Ohio, even though it sounds crazy. However, the circumstances were different and more complicated.
Pluribus News reports that Ohio Republicans voted for Derek Merrin, the state representative, to be the speaker. After putting together an unlikely alliance of Democrats and Republicans, Rep. Jason Stephen won the House. The final vote for speaker was 54-43.
Merrin wasn’t too happy.
After the vote, Mr. Merrin said to the Toledo Blade that there was a 67-seat Republican majority and that the Democrats elected the Speaker of the House. The vote totals are clear. The Democrats have elected the Speaker of the House.
The American Conservative Union’s ratings for 2021 showed that Stephens and Merrin got identical scores. This group evaluates state legislators on the basis of their votes on conservative legislation. Both members were named by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce to their 2021 list of Champions of Business.
Ohio political observers claimed that some Republicans were concerned about infuriating labor unions. They still play an important role in state politics if they supported Merrin. Merrin was open to the possibility of passing right-to-work legislation that would limit the ability of labor unions to collect dues.
Although Mr. Merrin was supported by conservative groups, there were indications that Republicans worried about the outcome of the labor vote in their respective districts were influenced by his support for Ohio becoming a right-to-work state.
The dividing line in Ohio was labor. The GOP’s capital is divided by ideology, personality, and a thirst for power. If a compromise candidate isn’t found soon, could this fanciful scenario happen?
McCarthy stated before the floor vote on speakership that some detractors would not mind if a Democrat was elected speaker.
McCarthy stated in a floor speech that “Last night, I was presented with the only way of having 218 votes if certain members had certain positions, certain gavels to take over church committee, and to have certain budgets.” “And they even got to the point where Matt Gaetz said, “I don’t mind if we go plurality and elect Hakeem Jeffries.”
McCarthy: “Matt Gaetz said, ‘I don’t care if we go to plurality and we elect Hakeem Jeffries.'” pic.twitter.com/wJRlNvDSty
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 3, 2023
Moderate Republicans wouldn’t be stupid enough to allow Democrats to elect the next speaker, I think. Democrats would love nothing more than to see the incoming speaker being reliant on them for a favor. Any attempt to include Democrats in the speaker’s election could result in a Republican schism, which could be used to forge a separate party like President Teddy Roosevelt did in 1912 when he and his progressive allies were excluded from the convention.
The most likely scenario is to issue threats to the 20 members who refuse to vote for McCarthy and anyone else not associated with the Freedom Caucus. Threat to be removed, campaign funds denied from the reelection committees — there are many petty irritations senior members can inflict upon rebels.
I believe that both sides are angry at each other and this will not end soon — or well.
