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Interesting Vote for Speaker
Monday, January 10, 2011 at 2:09PM Often, the biennial vote for House speaker closely resembles the quadrennial tally of the electoral vote, a pro forma count occasionally interrupted by a dissenting vote from a “faithless elector.”
Last Wednesday’s vote for speaker was 241 for Republican John Boehner to 173 for Democrat Nancy Pelosi. The tally went true to form on the Republican side, with Ohio’s Boehner receiving every vote from GOP members except his own; Boehner did not vote.
But House Democrats were far from unanimous in their backing of the leadership of Nancy Pelosi, as 19 of her Democratic colleagues withheld their support from the outgoing speaker. It was a vote of no confidence by a number of moderate House Democrats that could show the difficulty of the party achieving anything resembling unanimity in the 112th Congress.
Of the anti-Pelosi “19,” 11 cast their votes for Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina, two backed Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, and single votes went to Reps. Dennis Cardoza and Jim Costa, both of California, Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, and Marcy Kaptur of Ohio. Another House Democrat voted “Present.”
Among the 19 was Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who was shot and severely wounded by a gunman in Tucson Jan. 8. Her vote for speaker three days earlier went to civil rights icon, John Lewis.
A degree of horse trading was reflected in some of the other Democratic votes for speaker. Californians Cardoza and Costa each backed the other. Cooper voted for Shuler, while Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin went for Cooper. Meanwhile, Shuler, who had mounted a post-election challenge to Pelosi for minority leader, voted for himself for speaker.
Many of those who opposed Pelosi appear to be from the decimated ranks of the Blue Dog Democrats. A number were barely reelected last November. And the vast majority represented districts that were carried by Republican John McCain in the presidential election of 2008 and/or by George W. Bush four years earlier.
In short, it was a group - representing nearly 10% of the House Democratic caucus – who figured that close identification with Pelosi and the party’s liberal base were not good for their own political survival.
House Democrats Voting “No” on Pelosi (19)
’10 % ’08 Pres. Winner Vote for Speaker
Jason Altmire, Pa. 4 51% McCain Shuler
John Barrow, Ga. 12 57% Obama Lewis
Sanford Bishop, Ga. 2 51% Obama “Present”
Dan Boren, Okla. 2 57% McCain Shuler
Dennis Cardoza, Calif. 18 58% Obama Costa
Jim Cooper, Tenn. 5 56% Obama Shuler
Jim Costa, Calif. 20 52% Obama Cardoza
Joe Donnelly, Ind. 2 48% Obama Shuler
Gabrielle Giffords, Ariz. 8 49% McCain Lewis
Tim Holden, Pa. 17 56% McCain Shuler
Ron Kind, Wis. 3 50% Obama Cooper
Larry Kissell, N.C. 8 53% Obama Shuler
Daniel Lipinksi, Ill. 3 70% Obama Kaptur
Jim Matheson, Utah 2 50% McCain Shuler
Mike McIntyre, N.C. 7 54% McCain Shuler
Mike Michaud, Maine 2 55% Obama Shuler
Mike Ross, Ark. 4 58% McCain Shuler
Kurt Schrader, Ore. 5 51% Obama Hoyer
Heath Shuler, N.C. 11 54% McCain Shuler
Note: 2010 winning percentages are based on the member’s share of the total House vote in their district. A 20th House Democrat, Peter DeFazio of Oregon, did not vote at all for speaker and is not formally included in this list.
Source: www.thomas.gov
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