How did Illinois’ delegation vote for Speaker of the House?

Updated Saturday 1:10 a.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Kevin McCarthy has been elected House speaker on a historic post-midnight 15th ballot, overcoming holdouts from his own ranks. Floor tensions boiled over into shouting after a chaotic week that tested the new GOP majority’s ability to govern. But McCarthy prevailed in the end as he had said he would. “Now the hard work begins,” he declared as supporters cheered. During four days of grueling ballots, McCarthy flipped more than a dozen conservative holdouts to supporters. Then a few of the remaining holdouts switched to merely vote “present,” dropping the tally McCarthy needed to win.

On Friday, 15th congressional district Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) switched to vote for McCarthy in the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th rounds of voting after previously supporting Rep. Byron Donalds and Rep. Jim Jordan.

Here’s how Central Illinois’ congressional delegation voted in the 15 round of votes for House Speaker:

Congressional District Representative (Party) Choice for House Speaker (Ballots)
2 Robin Kelly (D) Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) all 15 ballots
12 Mike Bost (R) Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) all 15 ballots
13 Nikki Budzinski (D) Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) all 15 ballots
15 Mary Miller (R)

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) ballots 12, 13, 14, 15

Byron Donalds (R-FL) ballots 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Jim Jordan (R-OH) ballots 1, 2, 3

16 Darin LaHood (R) Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) all 15 ballots

 

Reginald Hardwick

Reginald Hardwick is the News & Public Affairs Director at Illinois Public Media. He oversees daily newscasts and online stories. He also manages The 21st Show, a live, weekday talk show that airs on six NPR stations throughout Illinois. He is the executive producer of IPM's annual environmental TV special "State of Change." And he is the co-creator of Illinois Soul, IPM's Black-focused audio service that launched in February 2024. Before arriving at IPM in 2019, he served as News Director at WKAR in East Lansing and spent 17 years as a TV news producer and manager at KXAS, the NBC-owned station in Dallas/Fort Worth. Reginald is the recipient of three Edward R. Murrow regional awards, seven regional Emmy awards, and multiple honors from the National Association of Black Journalists. Born in Vietnam, Reginald grew up in Colorado and is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado. Email: rh14@illinois.edu Twitter: @RNewsIPM