October 2015 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election

On September 28, Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Majority Leader, and Webster announced that they would run for Speaker of the House.[18][19] McCarthy was considered the presumptive favorite in the race.[20][21] Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah and the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced his candidacy on October 4, claiming that McCarthy did not have the votes to win the election.[22] Several Republicans urged Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the running mate of Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election, to run for Speaker, but he declined, saying he is a "policy guy" with a preference to focus on his role as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.[23]

Kevin McCarthy (CA-23)

Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who served as the Speaker from January 2007 through January 2011, asked her Democratic colleagues for their vote in the election.[24] Steny Hoyer, the House Minority Whip, said that he expected that the "overwhelming majority" of Democrats to vote for Pelosi. He said that if a Republican could not get the votes needed, Democrats could consider their options.[25]

On October 7, the day before the Republican caucus scheduled a non-binding vote for speaker, Ryan and former Vice President Dick Cheney endorsed McCarthy,[26][27] as did 11 of the 13 House Republicans from Pennsylvania.[28] The Freedom Caucus decided to endorse Webster in the race.[29] Other Republicans said they would vote against McCarthy, including Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who called McCarthy "absolutely not an option" because of his previous role as Boehner's "right-hand man".[30] Also, Walter B. Jones, Jr. of North Carolina sent a letter to the Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers stating that any candidates for a leadership position with "misdeeds" should withdraw from the race. Jones has stated that his comment did not specifically refer to McCarthy,[31] but it was widely seen as referring to rumors that McCarthy had been committing an extramarital affair with fellow Representative Renee Ellmers, a rumor that both have denied; the basis for such an allegation and interpretation is unclear.[32][33][34]

Citing opposition from within the Republican Party, as well as fallout from controversial comments he made about the United States House Select Committee on Benghazi, McCarthy dropped out of the race on October 8.[35][36] This unexpected move came without warning as House Republicans were preparing to vote on who would be their nominee for speaker, a vote which Boehner subsequently postponed.[37] Thomas Massie and Peter T. King referred to the House as a "banana republic".[38][39] Massie also criticized Boehner for postponing the election, saying they "called off the election because they didn’t like the result," which was echoed by Tom Rice, Louie Gohmert, and Justin Amash. McMorris Rodgers and Conference Vice Chairwoman Lynn Jenkins defended Boehner, saying the matter was handled properly, as conference rules give him sole discretion.[38] Rich Lowry of National Review asked McCarthy in a phone interview if the House was governable, to which McCarthy replied "I don’t know. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom."[40] Charlie Dent, a Republican from Pennsylvania who had supported McCarthy, suggested that if Republicans are unable to agree on a candidate, the best option might be for a bipartisan coalition to select a Speaker.[41]

The announcement immediately set off a renewed effort to recruit Ryan as a candidate.[42] Boehner personally called Ryan twice to ask him to run,[43] and Chaffetz said that he would not run against Ryan if he chose to enter the race.[44] Ryan also received calls from Mitt Romney and Trey Gowdy, among others, encouraging him to run for Speaker.[45][46] Additional Ryan endorsements came from Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, 2016 Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise from Louisiana.[47][48][49] On October 9, close aides of Ryan confirmed that Ryan was reconsidering the possibility of a run.[43][50]

Paul Ryan (WI-01)

A possible Ryan candidacy received support from the same Freedom Caucus that opposed Boehner and McCarthy. Meadows said on October 11 that Ryan running would "definitely change the equation," and Chairman Jim Jordan described Ryan as "a good man," and stated that the Freedom Caucus would view a Ryan run "favorably".[51][52][53]

Others who expressed their interest in running included Texas Representatives Bill Flores[54][55][56] and Michael McCaul,[57] Georgia Representative Lynn Westmoreland,[58] Montana Representative Ryan Zinke,[59] and California Representative and former Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa.[60][61] However, several candidates made clear that they would only run if Ryan chose not to, including Issa, McCaul, and Minnesota Representative John Kline.[62][63][64] On October 12, Flores confirmed that he would run for Speaker, but stated that he would run only if Ryan stayed out of the contest.[65]

Ryan held a closed-door meeting with the Republican Caucus on October 20, where he explained that he would run for Speaker if he could be guaranteed an overwhelming majority of the Republican caucus would support him.[66] Specifically, Ryan requested an increased threshold for the political maneuver of vacating the Speakership, stated that he would not lessen the amount of time he spends with his family, and requested an official endorsement from the Freedom Caucus, Republican Study Committee, and The Tuesday Group by October 23, before he could make his decision.[67][68] Immediately after Ryan's announcement, Chaffetz announced that he would be dropping out of the race to support Ryan.[69] The next day, the Freedom Caucus held a vote to determine which of its members would support Ryan; although the exact tally was not revealed, roughly two-thirds of the caucus voted to endorse Ryan. Although this was shy of the 80% vote needed for an official endorsement over Webster, both the caucus leaders and Ryan were satisfied with the result, and Ryan made efforts to move forward with a potential Speaker bid.[70][71]

On October 22, Ryan announced his bid for Speaker.[72][73][74] Flores, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, dropped out of the race and endorsed Ryan.[75] Mo Brooks of Alabama, a member of the Freedom Caucus, announced on the floor of the House on October 27 that Ryan had agreed not to advance immigration reform legislation while Barack Obama is President of the United States, or unless it meets the "Hastert Rule," as it has the support of the majority of Republicans.[76]

Once it appeared certain that Ryan would run, and win an overwhelming majority of the caucus's votes, Boehner rescheduled the Republican caucus vote for October 28.[77] Ryan won the nomination, defeating Webster 200 to 43 in the secret ballot voting.[78][79] Blackburn and McCarthy each received one vote.[80] The next day, Webster reportedly urged Republicans to vote for Ryan instead of him.[81]

Ryan watching the floor vote electing him as Speaker of the House

On October 29, 2015, Ryan was elected speaker, receiving 236 votes.[105] Following the election, Raúl Labrador, a Freedom Caucus member from Idaho, said that Ryan will need to "realize the honeymoon is over and start bringing us some conservative policy," and that "the final exam for Paul Ryan will be in January 2017, when there is a speaker election, and we will look at his body of work and determine whether he gets a passing grade or not."[13]

The vote count in the October 2015 speaker of the House election was:[6]

Representatives voting for someone other than their party's speaker nominee were:[107]
■ Dave Brat of Virginia; Curt Clawson of Florida; Louie Gohmert of Texas; Paul Gosar of Arizona; Walter Jones; Thomas Massie of Kentucky; Bill Posey of Florida; Randy Weber of Texas; and Ted Yoho of Florida voted for Dan Webster;
■ Jim Cooper of Tennessee voted for Colin Powell, who was not a member of the House at the time;
■ Gwen Graham of Florida voted for Jim Cooper;
■ Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona voted for John Lewis.