After a series of votes earlier today, Tom Emmer of Minnesota emerged as the Speaker designee. In a contest with Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Emmer won 117 – 97. However, like other Speaker designees before him, the question now turns to whether he has the support of at least 217 members of his party. Following his initial victory, the Republican conference conducted a roll call vote to see if he had enough votes before going to the floor for a full House vote, and he was well short.
Conversations are taking place among House Republicans to see if Emmer can get to the magic number.