Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election, October 2015
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An election for the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives took place on October 29, 2015, during the 114th U.S. Congress. The election was necessitated by the announcement of Speaker John Boehner's resignation, set for October 30. The Speaker of the House follows the Vice President in the line of succession to the presidency of the United States in accordance with the Presidential Succession Act.
Due to friction within the Republican Party caucus, Boehner decided to step down as speaker and resign his seat in Congress. He scheduled a Republican caucus non-binding vote for speaker on October 8, and a full floor vote on October 29. Kevin McCarthy, the House Majority Leader and second-in-command to the Speaker, was initially viewed as the favorite to win the Speakership. However, due to the opposition of the Freedom Caucus and boasting about creating a congressional committee to undermine Hillary Clinton on live television, McCarthy dropped out of the race on October 8, and the caucus vote was postponed.
Jason Chaffetz initially declared his candidacy to challenge McCarthy, and Bill Flores declared his candidacy after McCarthy withdrew, but both dropped out later to express their support for Paul Ryan, who entered the race after being widely viewed as a potential frontrunner. Daniel Webster of the Republican Party and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the Democratic Party were also declared candidates. Ryan won the rescheduled caucus vote on October 28, and was elected Speaker of the House, receiving 54.6% of the House vote, on October 29.
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