Mike Johnson wins first speaker ballot, still lacks majority

After two rounds of voting, Mike Johnson has the most votes in the House GOP’s latest attempt to nominate a speaker, though he’s still short the majority he needs to become the conference nominee.

Three candidates are now out of the running: Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (Tenn.) and Rep. Roger Williams (Texas) were eliminated after receiving the fewest votes, while Rep. Marc Green dropped out after the second round.

Republicans will keep voting by secret ballot until a candidate receives a simple majority of the conference. If candidates continue to win by pluralities, the contender with the lowest number will be eliminated after each vote.

Here’s the vote breakdown for the first ballot:

Johnson 85 … Byron Donalds 32 … Mark Green 23 … Roger Williams 21 … Fleischmann 10 … Other 31 … Present 2

Here’s the vote breakdown for the second ballot:

Johnson 97 … Donalds 31 … Green 21 … Williams-20 … Other 34

Johnson came in second to Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) in a candidate forum earlier Tuesday. Later in the day, Emmer dropped out when it became clear he couldn’t get the needed votes after former President Donald Trump came out against him.