The mild-mannered social conservative from Louisiana is the GOP’s fourth speaker nominee in 3 weeks, and he faces a vote mid-day Wednesday.
Following three failed speakership bids in three weeks, House Republicans have now chosen Rep. Mike Johnson of Lousiana to be their latest nominee for speaker of the House.
The fourth time may be the charm.
Johnson, who’s served in Congress since 2016 and is 51 years old, is a staunch social conservative who currently serves in party leadership as the vice chair of the House GOP conference.
He may be the best man for the job simply because he has no major enemies — he has good relationships with members of the hard right flank of the conference, and he’s collegial and low-profile enough for more vulnerable lawmakers to accept.
The Louisiana Rpeublican became the party’s nominee after House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s candidacy was derailed by former President Donald Trump, who called Emmer a « RINO » as dozens of hardliners made clear they were not ready to support his candidacy. Emmer was ultimately the party’s nominee for just over four hours before he withdrew on Tuesday.
Last week, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio was the party’s nominee, losing support with each successive floor vote until he was voted down by the conference on Friday. Before that, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was briefly the nominee.
The House is set to vote on Johnson’s candidacy mid-day on Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know about him.Last year, he introduced a bill similar to Florida’s « Don’t Say Gay » law
Last October, Johnson led over two dozen of his colleagues in introducing the « Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022. »
The bill is essentially the national version of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Law — dubbed « Don’t Say Gay » by critics.
