House majority leader Kevin McCarthy officially announced his campaign for speaker of the House. In a letter sent to his fellow Republican congressmen, McCarthy promised that if elected he would lead a House of Representatives that would “have the courage to lead the fight for our conservative principles and make our case to the American people” as well as having “the wisdom to listen to our constituents and each other so that we always move forward together.”
“You all know me,” McCarthy wrote. “We’ve spent late nights on the House Floor together. I’ve visited your districts and met your families and constituents. More importantly, I have gotten to know your ideas, your goals, and your vision for our conference and our country.”
McCarthy’s candidacy begins just three days after the surprise announcement from current speaker John Boehner that the veteran Ohio congressman would be resigning his speakership and his seat in Congress at the end of October. In his remarks Friday, Boehner suggested McCarthy would make an “excellent” speaker.
McCarthy has been majority leader since 2014, after Virginia’s Eric Cantor lost his Republican primary and resigned the leader post. Prior to that, McCarthy was majority whip. He was first elected to Congress from his Bakersfield, California-based district in 2006.
Among the Republicans joining McCarthy in the race for speaker is Florida congressman Daniel Webster. And Peter Roskam may be considering a run—the Illinois Republican has been leading a small movement of his colleagues to force a “closed meeting” of the conference to determine the party’s future. On top of that, McCarthy is viewed suspiciously among some conservatives by virtue of his position in the GOP leadership.
Despite these challenges, McCarthy’s popularity within the conference makes him the strong favorite:
McCarthy won’t have that problem, at least not at first. A significant number of the Republican House conference members were recruited to run by McCarthy himself, who headed up party’s recruitment efforts in 2010. Where Boehner had no qualms with publicly blaming the more conservative members of the conference when they caused trouble, it’s in McCarthy’s nature to be more conciliatory.
On the opposite wall from his Reagan painting is one of Abraham Lincoln. His approach to conflict within the conference, he says, is “malice toward none,” quoting from Lincoln’s Second Inaugural address. In McCarthy’s view, the conference, and the party, will be stronger with a more collaborative approach where each member feels a part of the process.
The House has not yet set a date for an election.
