Local leaders react to 2nd day of McCarthy vote

Jan. 5—The congressional gavel remains unclaimed Wednesday night, as Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield failed for a second day to earn the necessary 218 votes to win a simple majority of the 434 House members and become House speaker.

"Really what you saw today is what we call blind ambition and ego getting in the way of governing," said Mark Martinez, a political science professor at California State University, Bakersfield. "On (McCarthy's) part, he doesn't want to see the writing on the wall: he's not going to be speaker."

The House adjourned Wednesday evening after six rounds of voting — three on Tuesday and three on Wednesday — proved inconclusive. It is the first time in a century that the House failed to elect a new speaker on the initial ballot.

In a scene reminiscent of the Western Front, a gridlock among the three groups — McCarthy's base of 201 Republican supporters, 212 Democrats and 20 hardline Republicans — stymied any decision in a contest that mirrored results from a day earlier.

According to Cathy Abernathy, a long-time GOP consultant who has worked with the Republican in local and national settings for years, McCarthy remains the best candidate for the position. Contrary to national reports, she said, "This isn't some lifelong dream" for the longtime Bakersfield representative.

"McCarthy is at a position where he can do the job the best out of the crowd that's there," Abernathy said. "And the 201 that keep voting for him — those folks have more control of what's going to happen than anyone else. Because if they're staying solid, then this is eventually going to work itself out."

Meanwhile, the 212 Democrats unanimously voted for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, and 20 Republicans voted for Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Florida, the party's first Black nominee for speaker.

Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Indiana, voted "present," after previously supporting the Bakersfield representative. A threadbare Republican majority means that McCarthy can only afford four detracting votes and still win.

"Most people I talk to are frustrated that anyone would waste time in nominating candidates for this position that they know won't get more than a handful of votes," Abernathy said. "How many more times do you nominate the same person to make a point?"

The 20 Republicans — self-labeled as the "House Freedom Caucus" — sustained their opposition of McCarthy's bid, despite reported concessions offered to them.

"Their credibility to me has slipped from being called the 'Freedom Caucus' to being now a troublemaking caucus," Abernathy said. "They're behaving now like they got a new babysitter and they're seeing how far they can push them."

And despite an endorsement for McCarthy from former President Donald Trump, the group remains recalcitrant toward any compromise.

"(McCarthy) has led himself to believe he can control these guys and manage Donald Trump," Martinez said. "And that's a big mistake, especially after the 'Red Wave' didn't happen. He should've taken a step back and recalculated."

During recess breaks, McCarthy's allies were seen holding animated negotiations on the House floor. McCarthy has reportedly offered to streamline the process of motioning for a speaker's removal and committee priority, among other concessions.

According to Kern Democratic Party consultant Christian Romo, the most logical step now is for McCarthy to withdraw, and the Republican Party to replace him, likely with another establishment candidate who can appease their hardline opposition.

"As every vote goes on, it's my opinion that these 20 have become stronger and stronger," Romo said. "There's no policy issues they are conceding on, no bill that they'll concede on in order to get those votes for McCarthy. I think at this point they made it clear that it's just the issue of McCarthy; they don't trust him, they don't like him, they don't think he should be speaker, and they're going to hold out."

But at this time, there is little prospect of an emerging alternative. Opposing Republicans previously pushed for Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, but switched to Rep. Byron Donalds. Other alternatives that have been mentioned include Rep. Steve Scalise, R- Louisiana, and Rep. Jim Banks, R-Indiana.

"Jim Jordan doesn't want the position," Abernathy said. "And Rep. Donalds is not someone that has any standing with the 80 percent of the conference — they don't have a direction that anybody can say makes sense."

While technically earning more votes than McCarthy in every roll call, Democratic leader Jeffries has not been seen as a viable compromise, despite repeatedly coming within six votes of victory.

"It's totally an option," Romo said. "But I think the most likely scenario is they find another speaker who is a part of the Republican party."

Meanwhile, Congress is largely in standstill. Without a speaker, no committees can be assigned, bills cannot be passed and new members cannot be sworn into office.

"No business can be conducted until they pick a speaker for the House," Romo said. "So unfortunately, this is holding up a lot of business. We should be debating and introducing bills, having lively discussions but instead we're having fights over who should be the speaker. It's democracy in action but not what the American people want."

Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, who represents parts of Kern County along with other counties, shared similar sentiments.

"We can't do anything until we elect a speaker — we can't be sworn in as members of Congress, form committees, or introduce legislation," Valadao said. "The American people elected us to govern, and a small handful of members are preventing us from doing that. The vast majority of Republicans support McCarthy for speaker, and it's past time for the rest of my colleagues to get on board so we can get to work."

McCarthy has already said in several public statements that he has no intention of bowing out of the speaker's race. It is now a question of how long this fight will continue.

"A lot of that is just false bravado," Martinez said. "I can't see this going more than 20 times — it's just that we're in a different age than when that record was built and if it goes past this weekend, I'd be surprised. But if it does, that's when you start to run into problems, because the government cannot properly function."

The last time something of this nature happened was in 1856, when the House elected Rep. Nathaniel Banks of Massachusetts as its presiding officer for the 34th Congress after 133 votes. The issue of contention: slavery.

"There were a number of times in the 1800s when we had these types of events, which tells you that we're not in normal times," Martinez said. "Things are shifting and this is stuff that (McCarthy) should've been able to read... This can go on forever, but this is also where you have to ask yourself who's going to give up first: (McCarthy) or his supporters."

Abernathy expects the vote to continue for at least several more days, and believes that is an unfortunate but real function of contemporary government. To her, it's not good for anyone involved to endure this "nonstop squabble," which results in no progress.

"Nobody watches C-SPAN usually — most votes take days, hours, weeks through committee — this is how it works," Abernathy said. "So, this will continue for a few more days at least but that's just my guess. I don't see what more could be offered to these members that haven't already been offered and turned down on."

She emphasized that McCarthy's key to success is not in what he can do to change people's minds, but whether his support can remain united around him.

"It's not a sole decision for him to say 'I'm going to walk away,' because where does that leave the 201 members who believe that it's critically important that he does become the speaker?" Abernathy said.

The House will reconvene again at noon Eastern time on Thursday.