Full List of Republicans to Flip for McCarthy on 4th Day of Stalemate

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Fourteen House Republicans flipped their votes for Kevin McCarthy—a breakthrough for the congressman, although not enough to secure him the speakership.

On Friday, McCarthy convinced 14 of his 20 defectors to elect him as the next speaker of the House after struggling to make ground over three days of voting. On the 12th ballot, however, the majority of McCarthy's critics changed their votes and backed him for the gavel. Then on the 13th vote, another Republican flipped.

Representative Dan Bishop was the first to flip his vote for McCarthy. It was met with a standing ovation from the GOP conference, with many members cheering loudly for the decision. Each House Republican who flipped for McCarthy proceeded to receive their own standing ovation.

Representative Victoria Spartz, who voted for McCarthy on the first three ballots before voting "present," also received a standing ovation for voting for the California Republican on Friday. She previously said she switched to present to "help with deliberation."

McCarthy Flip Republicans Speaker
Above, Rep. Kevin McCarthy walks to a meeting with House Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Inset: Republican Rep. Scott Perry (inset top) and Rep. Chip Roy (inset... Kevin Dietsch/Win McNamee/Getty Images

While McCarthy was able to persuade most of his colleagues to vote for him, Representatives Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good and Matt Rosendale remained firmly opposed to his speakership

Representative Andy Harris had voted for Jordan on the 12th vote but flipped to McCarthy by the 13th.

With only a slim majority, McCarthy cannot lose more than four GOP votes if he wants the gavel. This means he will need to continue discussions with the six Republicans voting against him and hope he can flip another two votes.

Over the last three days, McCarthy has engaged in overnight negotiations with members of the House Freedom Caucus to no avail. But Thursday night's conversations seemed to finally move the needle. Several of the key holdouts who flipped for McCarthy cited the "good faith" negotiations for their decision.

Ahead of Friday's vote, McCarthy had told reporters on the Hill, "We're going to make progress today. We're going to shock you. We're going to get it done."

"We are making progress," Representative Keith Self told the House floor before flipping his vote.

Here is the full list of House Republicans who flipped their votes in favor of McCarthy:

  1. Dan Bishop of North Carolina
  2. Josh Breechen of Oklahoma
  3. Michael Cloud of Texas
  4. Andrew Clyde of Georgia
  5. Byron Donalds of Florida
  6. Paul Gosar of Arizona
  7. Andy Harris of Maryland
  8. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida
  9. Mary Miller of Illinois
  10. Ralph Norman of South Carolina
  11. Andy Ogles of Tennessee
  12. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
  13. Chip Roy of Texas
  14. Keith Self of Texas

Update 01/06/23, 2:40 p.m. ET: This story was updated to reflect the results of the 13th ballot.

About the writer

Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. Katherine joined Newsweek in 2020. She is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and obtained her Master's degree from New York University. You can get in touch with Katherine by emailing k.fung@newsweek.com. Languages: English


Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more