JUST IN: Kevin McCarthy Defeats Andy Biggs, Secures Republican Nomination for House Speaker

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Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) won the support of the Republican caucus, establishing him as the GOP’s candidate for Speaker of the House.

McCarthy commenced his pursuit of the speakership shortly after the midterm elections, even as the GOP grapples with questions of leadership after the red wave turned out to be much smaller than expected. McCarthy faced a challenge from Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ) of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, but multiple reports from the closed-door vote say McCarthy easily captured the majority vote he needed by securing 188 votes to Biggs’ 31.

With Republicans only looking at a slim majority in the House of Representatives instead of the commanding majority they expected, McCarthy reportedly got slammed by his colleagues during internal GOP debates over who was most responsible for midterm disappointments.

Now that McCarthy has secured the Republican nomination, it remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to lock up the 218 votes he’ll need by January 3 to formally become Speaker.