Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern gets votes for House speaker as Republicans remain fractured

Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern garnered votes for speaker on Thursday as Republicans remained fractured and the new Congress stalled without a top House leader.

Hern, R-Tulsa, received seven votes out of 432 cast on the 10th and 11th ballots in the election, which has failed to produce a new speaker after three days. He received three votes on the ninth ballot and two on the eighth. He was nominated first by Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert and then by Virginia Republican Bob Good. Rep.-elect Josh Brecheen was the only member of the Oklahoma delegation to back Hern on any of the votes.

Republicans own a slim majority of seats and will control the House once a speaker is selected and operating rules approved. Until a speaker is chosen, members can’t be sworn in, committees can’t work and staff can’t be paid. It is the first time in a century that the House has been unable to elect a speaker after a single vote.

Friday updates: House reconvenes in last-ditch effort to select speaker

The House adjourned after the 11th ballot on Thursday night and was set to convene again on Friday, with some hope that a compromise may be near.

California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy was the overwhelming choice of House Republicans last month to be speaker, but he has fallen short of getting a majority on the House floor, as about 20 GOP members have voted for other candidates or simply voted present, while Democrats have been united behind New Yorker Hakeem Jeffries.

Hern did not vote for himself after his name was put into nomination. He has voted for McCarthy on every ballot. Hern told The Frontier, an Oklahoma online journalism site, on Thursday that, “If I hear my name, it’s something I’ll have to think and pray about before deciding if it’s a job I’ll run for.”

Who is Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern?

Hern, elected to a third term in November, was recently chosen as head of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative group that focuses on balancing the federal budget. Some of McCarthy's detractors are also members of that committee and say they don't trust McCarthy to steer the House rightward after four years of Democratic rule.

Boebert called Hern a “unifier” who had gone from rags to riches and lived the American dream. She said he was a conservative but was “not mad about it.”

“We need a leader who is not of the broken system,” she said.

Oklahoma Republicans Stephanie Bice, of Oklahoma City; Tom Cole, of Moore; and Frank Lucas, of Cheyenne, are solidly committed to McCarthy. Along with Hern, they have voted for McCarthy on every ballot.

On the 10th ballot, Hern drew votes from Boebert and Brecheen; Andy Biggs and Eli Crane, of Arizona; Matt Gaetz, of Florida; Andy Harris, of Maryland; and Matthew Rosendale, of Montana. Those members had opposed McCarthy on previous votes, as well. Jeffries received the 212 votes, while the Republican votes were divided among McCarthy, who got 200; Byron Donalds, who got 13; and Hern, with seven. One Republican voted "present."

Oklahoma Democratic Party Chair Alicia Andrews said Thursday, “The dysfunctional extremism on display during the ongoing election of Speaker of the House is disappointing, particularly from the view back here in Oklahoma.

“The fact that Congresswoman-Elect Boebert, one of the most extreme members of the so-called Rebel Caucus, nominated Kevin Hern should scare every Oklahoman of good conscience. The mere fact that she lauds Rep.-Elect Hern's character serves to impugn his character. She had a choice between 222 elected members and chose Hern. As did Gaetz, as did Josh Brecheen.”

Andrews said Brecheen “wasted no time joining the so-called Rebel Caucus in their efforts to hold the congressional chamber hostage. That his reasons may be more about his donors than democracy makes it no less disheartening.”

Andrews was referring to the Club for Growth, whose political action committee boosted Brecheen financially in the crowded Republican primary for the eastern Oklahoma congressional seat vacated by now-Sen. Markwayne Mullin.

Brecheen, of Coalgate, has opposed McCarthy on every ballot. He has voted for Hern and Republican Reps. Byron Donalds, of Florida; Jim Jordan, of Ohio; and Jim Banks, of Indiana.

Brecheen has complained that rank-and-file members have been shut out of the process of writing and amending spending bills. A former staff member of the late U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, Brecheen also has criticized the special projects known as earmarks.

In a statement on Wednesday, Brecheen said, “I was elected to Congress by the people of Oklahoma’s Second District under the commitment to reform reckless spending that is bankrupting our nation and robbing our children and future generations. I’m keeping my word.

“My message to Leader McCarthy has been — and continues to be — that to obtain my support for Speaker, transformative rule changes that stop out of control spending and address our debt loading must occur.”

Oklahoma Republican Party Chair A.J. Ferate said, "Democracy is supposed to be messy. That's okay. Ultimately, I look forward to the House Republican caucus finding a solution."

An Oklahoman has served as House speaker. Democrat Carl Albert, from southeastern Oklahoma, guided the House from 1971 through 1977, during the Watergate scandal and investigation, and the resignations of then-President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Kevin Hern, Oklahoma representative, draws votes for House speaker