US: Kevin McCarthy elected as Minority Leader of the House

ANI  |  Washington D.C. [USA] 

of the was elected as the of the House on Wednesday.

McCarthy won with the vote count of 159-43 after facing a fierce battle against his rival

As Ryan's term comes to an end, McCarthy is now number 2 House Republican and had long been viewed as a strong contender for in the new

He will hold the highest-ranking Republican leadership post with Republicans in the minority after losing control of the in the midterm elections.

Earlier in April this year, Ryan had announced that he would not seek re-election and had endorsed McCarthy to be his successor.

"We will work with anybody across that aisle if they are there to work to move forward. But let me be very clear, if their agenda is simply investigations, impeachment, and not focused on the hardworking American public, we will be there to defend the American public," said McCarty as quoted by

In a letter announcing his bid, he wrote, "We need to lay the groundwork to regain the majority so that we can continue working alongside to fulfill our promise to fundamentally change I helped build a majority from a deeper hole than this and I have what it takes to do it again.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Thu, November 15 2018. 20:55 IST