Emmer is one of only two speaker candidates who voted in favor of certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
Topline
Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) is considered a front-runner in the race for House speaker after winning the first three rounds of the Republican nomination contest Tuesday and earning an endorsement from former speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), but he faces an uphill battle for support from former President Donald Trump’s allies in Congress.Key Facts
Emmer, who announced Saturday he would run for the position, has so far secured more public endorsements from his Republican colleagues than any of the eight other candidates, with McCarthy telling NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that Emmer is “head and shoulders above all those others who want to run,” while touting his work on key GOP legislation, including border security bills and the Parents Bill of Rights that requires public schools to provide more information to parents about what goes on in their children’s schools.
Emmer—elected to the House in 2015 to represent a district in suburban northwest Minneapolis after six years in the Minnesota House of Representatives—is Majority Whip, the No. 3 GOP position in Congress, and he previously served two terms as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, fundraising for Republican candidates and campaigning on their behalf to help Republicans take back the majority in Congress in the 2022 midterm election.
While Emmer is well-respected among Republicans in Congress, the Trump-aligned faction of the party could block him from winning the 217 votes he needs to become speaker as he can afford to lose only four GOP votes, assuming all Democrats continue voting for Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
The Minnesota Congressman is one of only two GOP candidates for speaker, along with Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), who voted to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, and he sharply rebuked the January 6 Capitol riots, positions that have put him at odds with Trump, who has reportedly been urging Republicans not to elect Emmer in private.
