Pelosi secures 4th term as House speaker

Tim O'Donnell

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will retain the speaker's gavel for another two years after she received a narrow majority of votes during Sunday's election on the House floor. Pelosi secured 216 votes, which turned out to be just two more than she needed, while House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) picked up 209. The victory marks Pelosi's fourth term as speaker.

Five Democrats defected — Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) voted for Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who was not eligible for the role of House speaker, while Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) voted for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). However, the other three lawmakers, Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), all voted present rather than for another person, which in this case means their votes didn't count against the tally, so they didn't threaten Pelosi's majority.

Several Democrats who opposed Pelosi's last bid in 2019 backed her this time around, which wound up making the difference.

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