What To Know About Byron Donalds—The Republican Challenging McCarthy For Speaker

Topline

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) emerged Wednesday as the main Republican challenger to Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) bid for House speaker, as a group of almost two dozen hard-right representatives opposed to McCarthy coalesced around the second-term Florida congressman after earlier backing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Key Facts

Donalds received 20 votes on the fourth speaker ballot Wednesday afternoon—matching the number of votes Jordan received on the third ballot Tuesday evening—and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) renominated Donalds for the fifth round of voting.

Donalds voted for himself Wednesday and appears to back the campaign to make him speaker, while Jordan voted for McCarthy every round and told reporters Tuesday he has no desire to win the speakership.

Donalds on Tuesday became the first Republican to drop support for McCarthy—he voted for him on the first two ballots before switching to Jordan on the third ballot, tweeting that he backed away from McCarthy because the “reality is . . . McCarthy doesn’t have the votes.”

The Florida congressman is an ally of former President Donald Trump and a member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, and in November mounted an unsuccessful bid to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.)—a McCarthy ally—as House Republican Conference chair, the GOP caucus’ third-most-powerful post.

He gained prominence in the GOP last year for speaking out against Covid restrictions and mandates—he’s said on multiple occasions he has not received a Covid vaccine—while he’s also been one of the leading voices pushing for Republican-led investigations into the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

Donalds in 2020 became the third-ever Black Republican elected to Congress, winning a tight GOP primary for his Gulf Coast district after serving four years in the Florida legislature.

Surprising Fact

Donalds was a Democrat until 2010 but claimed to be apolitical. He switched his affiliation when he became involved with the populist Tea Party movement of the early 2010s.

Key Background

The House is in deadlock without a speaker, leaving the body unable to adopt rules and keeping new members from being sworn in. It remains unclear at this point how the situation will be resolved and how long it might take to choose a speaker as both Republican factions dig in. McCarthy has vowed to keep votes going as long as it takes for him to be chosen speaker, while his opposition has taken a similar position against him. McCarthy appears to be losing momentum, though, with political betting platform PredictIt reporting Wednesday afternoon he is no longer the favorite to be elected speaker, falling behind Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.). This is the first time since 1923 it’s taken more than one ballot to elect a speaker and only the second time there’s been a protracted vote since before the start of the Civil War.

Tangent

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Republicans to rally behind McCarthy’s bid, but the message failed to generate any more support for McCarthy on the fourth ballot.

Further Reading

Trump Urges GOP To Unite Behind McCarthy, Avoid ‘Embarrassing Defeat’ Ahead Of Round 4 Of Voting (Forbes)

Without A Speaker, House Business Remains At A Standstill—Here’s What’s At Stake (Forbes)

Betting The House: Gambling Odds Get Longer For Kevin McCarthy After Chaotic Vote For Speaker (Forbes)

Kevin McCarthy Loses Fourth Round Of Voting In Chaotic House Speaker Elections (Forbes)