2017 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election

2017 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election

January 3, 2017(2017-01-03)
Needed to win:Majority of the votes cast 433 votes cast, 217 needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Candidate Paul Ryan Nancy Pelosi Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Wisconsin 1st California 23rd Members' vote 239 189 Percentage 55.19% 43.65% Candidate Others Members' vote 5 Percentage 1.15%
Speakerbefore election Paul Ryan Republican ElectedSpeaker Paul Ryan Republican

On January 3, 2017, the first day of the115th United States Congressand two months after the2016 U.S. House elections,the incoming members of theU.S. House of Representativesheld an election forspeaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.This was the 125thU.S. speaker electionsince the office was created in 1789.

The, incumbent speaker HouseRepublicanleaderPaul Ryan,received 239 votes, a majority of the chamber, and retained the speakership. HouseDemocraticleaderNancy Pelosigarnered 189 votes, with 5 more votes going to a scattering of others. As only 433 representatives in the 435-member House cast a vote (with two members not casting votes), 217 votes were necessary in order to win.

Process and conventions

Thespeaker of the United States House of Representativesis the presiding officer of theUnited States House of Representatives.The House elects its speaker at the beginning of a new Congress (i.e.biennially,aftera general election) or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from the position intra-term. Since 1839, the House has elected speakers byroll call vote.Traditionally, eachparty's caucus or conferenceselects a candidate for the speakership from among its senior leaders prior to the roll call. Representatives are not restricted to voting for the candidate nominated by their party, but generally do, as the outcome of the election effectively determines which party has themajorityand consequently will organize the House.Representatives that choose to vote for someone other than their party's nominated candidate usually vote for another member within the party or vote "present".

Moreover, as the Constitution does not explicitly state that the speaker must be anincumbentmember of the House, it is permissible for representatives to vote for someone who is not a member of the House at the time, and non-members have received a few votes in various speaker elections over the past several years.Nevertheless, every person elected speaker has been a member.

To be elected speaker, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes cast, as opposed to an absolute majority of the full membership of the House – presently 218 votes, in a House of 435. There have only been a few instances during the past century where a person received a majority of the votes cast, and thus won the election, while failing to obtain a majority of the full membership. At the time, it happened most recently in January 2015 (114th Congress), whenJohn Boehnerwas elected with 216 votes (as opposed to 218). Such a variation in the number of votes necessary to win a given election might arise due to vacancies, absentees, or members being present but not voting. If no candidate wins a majority of the "votes cast for a person by name," then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected.Multiple roll calls have been necessary only 15 times since 1789; and, at the time, not since 1923 (68th Congress), when a closely divided House needed nine ballots to electFrederick H. Gillettspeaker.Upon winning election the new speaker is immediately sworn in by theDean of the United States House of Representatives,the chamber's longest-serving member.

Democratic nomination

Nancy Pelosiof California andTim Ryanof Ohio ran in theHouse Democratic Caucus' vote to select its leader and nominee for speaker.Pelosi had led the House Democratic Caucus since 2003.There had also been some who had urgedJoe Crowleyof New York to challenge Pelosi, but he instead opted to run for the position of House Democratic Caucus chairman, which was being vacated by outgoing congressmanXavier Becerra.

The result of the November 30, 2016 vote was:

Candidate	Votes	Percent
Nancy Pelosi	134	68.02%
Tim Ryan	63	31.98%

Ryan's share of the vote was seen as indicating a degree of disapproval within the House Democratic Caucus towards Pelosi's leadership.

Republican nomination

On November 15, 2016, incumbent speakerPaul Ryanwas renominated by theHouse Republican Conferencewithout opposition.

Candidate	Votes	Percent
Paul Ryan	—	100%

Election of the speaker

2017 United States Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul Ryan(WI 1) (incumbent)	239	55.19
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi(CA 12)	189	43.65
	Democratic	Tim Ryan(OH 13)	2	0.47
	Democratic	Jim Cooper(TN 5)	1	0.23
	Democratic	John Lewis(GA 5)	1	0.23
	Republican	Dan Webster(FL 10)	1	0.23
Total votes			433	100
Votes necessary			217	>50

Ryan did not cast a vote in the election, while Pelosi did.

Representatives voting for someone other than their party's speaker nominee were:
■Thomas Massieof Kentucky, who voted for Webster
■Jim Cooperof Tennessee andKathleen Riceof New York, who voted Tim Ryan
■Ron Kindof Wisconsin, who voted Jim Cooper
■Kyrsten Sinemaof Arizona, who voted for Lewis

Representatives that did not cast votes were:
■Paul Ryan of Wisconsin
■Kurt Schraderof Oregon