They may only get a narrow House majority from the 2022 election, but Republican lawmakers voted to reward their campaign chief with the third-ranking position in GOP leadership on Tuesday.
A week after some less than stellar election results, National Republican Congressional Campaign chairman Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) won a closed-door vote to become Majority Whip. His election ends a bitter three-way contest for the position that went through multiple ballots on Tuesday.
Such leadership contests are usually low-key affairs that only Beltway insiders follow. But the contest between Emmer, Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Drew Ferguson (R-GA) took on broader significance as figures like Donald Trump Jr. rooted for Banks to bring a touch of MAGA to leadership.
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While all three men have been devoted Trump allies, Banks had most actively courted the ex-president and embraced his style of politics. After The Daily Beast reported on Trumpworld’s warmth toward Banks, the influential Fox News host Tucker Carlson began accusing Emmer of planting quotes criticizing his son, Buckley, who is the communications director for Banks.
In that sense, the race became seen as something of a vibe check for the House GOP’s appetite for Trumpian leadership, after an election in which many Republicans are blaming Trump for their poor performance.
The race also became somewhat of a bellwether for any GOP backlash over a midterm that will see them pick up somewhere between 13-16 seats rather than the 30 or 40 that leaders had openly fantasized about.
Emmer, who has chaired House Republicans’ campaign arm since 2019, had been seen as a clear favorite for the job thanks to his work to bring the party into the majority. But he faced questions about the party’s lackluster performance, along with the GOP leadership across the board, which cast fresh scrutiny on his bid for a promotion.
But before the closed-door, secret-ballot vote on Tuesday, nobody seemed to have a clue which way the race would go. Members were largely mum on the contest before heading to the vote.
“That’s between me and my pen right now,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who is running for chair of the Republican conference, told reporters Tuesday.
In the first round of voting, Banks came out on top with 82 votes, while Emmer was in second with 72 and Ferguson came in third with 71, according to Politico. With no one hitting a majority of the vote, the contest went to a second ballot.
This time around, Emmer came in first: 115-106.
Although Banks was never officially endorsed by Trump, his loss is the latest sign that congressional Republicans may be moving away from the former president ahead of 2024. Republicans on and off the Hill in the past week have suggested it may be time for the party to move on from Trump. Some have pointed to Gov. Ron DeSantis as a source of new leadership.
Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, even Banks was shying away from endorsing a Trump 2024 bid. Trump is expected to announce his 2024 bid Tuesday night.
“He wasn't on the ballot in 2022, that's something to remember too,” he told Fox News Sunday. “The 2024 primary is in front of us, but we're still unpacking what happened last Tuesday.”
Come January, Emmer is set to serve as the majority’s head vote counter—a position held since 2019 by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC)—and will serve under the party’s longtime top two, Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Steve Scalise (R-LA).
