North Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson Falls Short of GOP Nomination for Speaker

WASHINGTON D.C. (KPEL News) - Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson made it to the final round of voting via secret ballot in a GOP conference vote.

In the fifth round of voting, Johnson was one of the two last standing candidates, the other being the House Majority Whip, Tom Emmer.

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However, Johnson fell just short, losing to Emmer by 20 votes. The Minnesota Republican got 217 votes, while Johnson picked up 97.

Johnson announced his bid for Speaker over the weekend, telling colleagues in a letter that "our House Republican majority must provide principled leadership."

"It is our duty to chart a new path, and answer with clarity and conviction who we are, why we are here, and what we are fighting for," he said.

Emmer is calling for a full conference vote to see if he will be able to get to 217 before the floor vote with Republicans and Democrats. He will need to pick up 100 more votes than he got in the secret ballot in order to comfortably move to a floor vote.

One source told KPEL News that Emmer "has an uphill battle."

Emmer has to win over at least 100 holdouts in the conference, many of whom are not happy with the state of Republican leadership in the House. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Majority Leader Steve Scalise both fell victim to anti-leadership sentiment. Emmer, as the Majority Whip, is the third-in-line behind those two.

Interestingly, Rep. Matt Gaetz, who initiated the vote to oust McCarthy, was allegedly pushing others to vote for Emmer, who is seen by conservatives as more moderate than McCarthy.

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There is no set timeline on a vote for Speaker in front of the full House. Republicans are still hoping to consolidate their vote behind a single candidate.