October 2015 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election

October 2015 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election

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Needed to win: Majority of the votes cast 432 votes cast, 217 needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Candidate Paul Ryan Nancy Pelosi Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Wisconsin 1st California 12th Members' vote 236 184 Percentage 54.63% 42.59%   Candidate Others Members' vote 12 Percentage 2.78%
Speaker before election John Boehner Republican Elected Speaker Paul Ryan Republican

On October 29, 2015, during the 114th United States Congress, an election for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives was necessitated by the impending resignation of John Boehner, set for October 30.^[1] Boehner was the first speaker to resign in the middle of a Congressional term since Jim Wright in 1989.^[2]

This was 124th speaker of the House election since the office was created in 1789. Republican representative Paul Ryan, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, won the election, receiving 236 votes, an absolute majority of the 435-member chamber. Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader, garnered 184 votes, with 12 more going to others. As 432 representatives cast a vote, the majority needed to win was 217. Ryan (age 45) was the youngest person elected as speaker since James G. Blaine (age 39) in 1869. After the vote, Ryan delivered his first remarks as speaker-elect and was sworn in by John Conyers, the dean of the House.^[3]

Boehner had been speaker since January 5, 2011, and during his tenure had managed substantial friction within the House Republican Conference, most notably several high-profile disputes with the Freedom Caucus. On September 25, 2015, Boehner announced his decision to resign as speaker and from Congress. He scheduled a Republican Conference non-binding vote for speaker on October 8, and a full floor vote on October 29.

Several Republicans expressed interest in becoming speaker. Kevin McCarthy, the House Majority Leader was initially viewed as the favorite, but withdrew his name from consideration on October 8, when the Freedom Caucus refused to support him, and the conference vote was postponed. Immediately afterwards, an effort was made to recruit the widely respected Paul Ryan, who had been the 2012 Republican vice presidential candidate, for the post; but he had repeatedly insisted that he was not interested in the job.^[4] However, after receiving pledges of support from each of the various party factions, Ryan declared his candidacy. The several other Republicans interested in running for speaker promptly endorsed Ryan; only Daniel Webster remained in the race. Ryan won the rescheduled conference vote on October 28, and was elected speaker the next day.