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'As long as it takes:' Congressman Good holding out on Speaker of the House vote


Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., listens as the second round of votes are cast for the next Speaker of the House on the opening day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., listens as the second round of votes are cast for the next Speaker of the House on the opening day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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After three rounds of voting, a new Speaker of the House has still not been elected.

One of our local congressmen, 5th District Congressman Bob Good (R), is among those voting against McCarthy for Speaker of the House.

Good said Kevin McCarthy needs to withdraw.

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"It's just a matter of time until Kevin McCarthy finally realizes he doesn't have the 218 votes he's not going to get 218 votes," Good said.

Good voted against McCarthy in all three votes.

He said voters in the 5th District have been telling him for three years now not to support McCarthy for speaker.

"I said I would assess him based on his first two years, during my first term in Congress and whether or not he demonstrated what I thought was needed to lead us in a majority as Republicans. He certainly has not done that," Good said.

Good said he plans to hold out for as long as it takes.

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"We shouldn't be in a hurry to choose a poor Republican leader with a demonstrated history of failure in terms of fighting for republican principles," Good said.

So, how long could it take until we have a new speaker?

ABC13 took that question to Dr. Dave Richards, Chair of Political Science at the University of Lynchburg.

He said someone is going to have to compromise.

"Somebody is going to have to give in. Maybe McCarthy can offer enough goodies to folks to kind of peel them away and if he can get down to just a few holdouts, then he can get that magic number of 218 to win," Richards said.

Richards also said this needs to be resolved sooner than later.

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"There's a few things that need to be voted on, not today or tomorrow, but certainly in the coming session. So, if we are at this for weeks on end, the government will eventually kind of grind to a halt and that's going to be a big problem."

This marks the first time in a century that a speaker of the House has not been able to be elected after the first ballot by the party in power in the House.

Other Virginia Congressmen, Rep. Ben Cline (R-6th District) and Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-9th District) joined the majority of Republicans in voting for McCarthy.

The House has adjourned until noon on Wednesday.

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