Legal and political experts are raising red flags about all nine Republican candidates now running for Speaker of the House, warning of their positions, histories, and voting records.
The nine are: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (MN), Republican Conference Vice Chair Mike Johnson (LA), Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (OK), Jack Bergman (MI), Byron Donalds (FL), Dan Meuser (PA), Gary Palmer (AL), Austin Scott (GA), and Pete Sessions (TX).
“All vote suppressors, most election deniers. MAGA, MAGA and more MAGA,” warns Democratic elections attorney Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket. Elias famously won over 60 cases that Trump and his allies filed in the 2020 election, losing just one.
“It’s probably an accurate reflection of today’s GOP that 6 of 9 candidates for speaker come from the South and 2 from the Midwest,” notes Michael Li, redistricting and voting counsel at the Brennan Center at NYU School of Law.
READ MORE: Trump Threatened With Jail After Judge Fines Him for Violating Gag Order
With the exception of one, the candidates are all white. And as former U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) observed, “9 men running for Speaker. Where are the women candidates?”
Noticeably absent from running: Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who serves as the Chair of the House Republican Conference.
The candidates are far older than the average American, who is just under 39 years old. Bergman is the oldest, at 76. Emmer is 62. Johnson is 51. Hern is 61. Meuser, 59. Palmer, 69. Scott, 53. Sessions, 68. Donalds is the youngest, at 44.
All come from strongly Republican-leaning districts, as University of South Carolina Professor and Political Science Department Vice Chair David Darmofal notes.
“It’s 2023 and only one of the 9 Republican candidates for Speaker of the House voted to federally codify same-sex & interracial marriages,” Darmofal adds, pointing to former pollster Adam Carlson’s spreadsheet which details just how far-right all nine candidates are.
READ MORE: ‘This Is All a Game for a Lot of Them’: MSNBC Conservative Slams GOP as Jordan Fails Again
According to Carlson’s chart and one for Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman (both below), just two voted to certify the 2020 presidential election on January 6 after the insurrection, which The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent calls “Another mark of the GOP’s descent.”
“Don’t be fooled,” warns activist and political commentator Victor Chi. “While 2 of the 9 Republicans didn’t decertify the election results on January 6, BOTH of them signed an amicus brief demanding SCOTUS overturn the 2020 election. That means ALL 9 Speaker candidates are election deniers. This is not normal. But it’s who they are.”
None voted to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection. None voted to establish the January 6 Commission.
Just five of the nine voted to avert a government default related to the debt ceiling, and five voted to avert a government shutdown by supporting the current 45-day continuing resolution. That’s an ominous possible predictor of what could happen in less than four weeks, when the federal government will shut down if the House (and Senate) do not pass legislation to fund the government.
Only four voted to support additional aid to Ukraine.
None voted for bipartisan gun control. None voted for the bipartisan Infrastructure Act. Just one voted for reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.
None voted for ensuring the right to contraception, which some warn is a battle Republicans are gearing up to wage.
What are some other experts saying overall?
“The worst is Donalds. The best of the lot is Emmer,” writes political scientist Norman Ornstein of The Atlantic. Reflecting on the bigger picture of why Speaker Nancy Pelosi was successful while Speaker Kevin McCarthy was not, Ornstein writes:
“Blowing up government is the larger goal. Purity is a virtue. So is disruption. So it is not a great surprise that McCarthy, who spent much of his career, encouraging disruption, and who has no core values, failed. Nor is it a great surprise that they cannot find a replacement.”
READ MORE: Biden Says ‘American Leadership Is What Holds the World Together’ in Speech Urging Unity
House Republicans will meet behind closed doors for a “candidate forum,” Monday starting at 6:30 PM. They hope to elect one nominee who must get a majority of their fellow Republicans’ votes. Tuesday morning, exactly three weeks after Kevin McCarthy was ousted, the House is expected to convene to attempt, for the fourth time this year, to elect a Speaker.
Look at the charts below or at this link.
Image via Shutterstock