House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) has won the GOP nomination for House Speaker.

“The conference selected Emmer — the No. 3 House Republican — for the position in a secret ballot during an internal election that lasted three hours, choosing him over six other candidates vying for the job,” The Hill reports.

Per The Hill:

Emmer, 62, will now take his nomination to the House floor, where he will have to muster enough votes to win the gavel — a heavy lift that the previous two GOP Speaker nominees failed to achieve. If all lawmakers are present and vote for a specific candidate, Emmer will need at least 217 votes.

It may also be a hard climb for Emmer, who has a less conservative voting record than some members would like.

He has voted in favor of codifying same-sex marriage; in favor of spending bills and a debt limit deal that outraged hardliners; and opposed votes on Jan. 6, 2021, objecting to 2020 election results.

Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) said he will not back Emmer for Speaker because of his vote in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which was passed by Congress last year and gives federal protections to same-sex marriages.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) on Tuesday said the conservative House Freedom Caucus is not committing to backing Emmer on the floor.

Donald Trump reportedly told allies he’s not behind Emmer’s House Speaker bid.

Donald Trump Reportedly NOT Behind Kevin McCarthy-Endorsed House Speaker Candidate

The Minnesota Republican previously worked the National Popular Vote campaign “to support efforts to overhaul the Electoral College by passing laws that commit state electors to the candidate who wins the national popular vote,” the New York Post reported last year.

Democrat donors heavily bankrolled the initiative, including a son of George Soros.

Per the New York Post:

About five years after the initiative’s launch, Emmer took a job as one of the group’s paid spokespeople.

“I believe it’s going to end up favoring Republicans … if you believe in our message,” Emmer said in a 2011 video interview posted on the website of Pennsylvania public affairs firm Triad Strategies.

“The current system is not producing candidates and campaigns that campaign to everyone in the country. In fact, they focus on certain areas and the result is not necessarily the best policy for the country,” Emmer added at the time.

David Bossie, a close ally of former President Donald Trump and president of the advocacy group Citizens United, told The Post, “The scheme to abolish the Electoral College has been a dedicated effort by the radical left for years because they want coastal elites from California and New York to decide the direction of America.”

Hans von Spakovsky, a former Republican member of the Federal Election Commission and leader of the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative, said that there’s a reason for the Electoral College, which forces candidates to focus on appealing to swing-state voters across the country rather than major population centers.

“Anyone who supports the National Popular Vote plan has either contempt for, or a basic ignorance of, our federal system and the very careful structure that the Framers of the Constitution set up to ensure that more rural, less populated states are not ignored by individuals running for president,” von Spakovsky said.

The initiative was overwhelmingly financed by Democratic donors, according to the conservative Capital Research Center’s Influence Watch, which notes a $1 million contribution in 2011 from the Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros Foundation. Jonathan Soros is the son of left-wing megadonor George Soros.

It’s unclear how much Emmer was paid for being a spokesman, or precisely how long he worked for the group. Emmer did not provide the information to The Post, but a source close to him said it was a part-time job. NPV did not respond to a request for comment.

Influence Watch writes:

National Popular Vote (NPV) was founded in 2006 by lottery scratch-card inventor John Koza and election lawyer Barry Fadem to lobby for an “interstate compact” for states to deliver their electoral votes for President to the “winner” of the national popular vote. While Koza and Fadem are both Democratic donors, the organization has hired Republican spokespersons.

The organization has managed to get 15 states and the District of Columbia to join the compact, as of August 2019. 1 Major funding for the effort has come from Koza, Paychex billionaire Tom Golisano, and several major left-leaning organizations.

“Numerous liberal progressive organizations have donated money to National Popular Vote. No conservative organizations are identifiable as having donated,” Influence Watch noted.

“The Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros Foundation contributed $1 million to National Popular Vote in 2011. Jonathan Soros is the son of George Soros, known for financing a large network of left-leaning causes around the world and bankrolling Democratic Party candidates in the United States,” it added.

There’s online footage of Emmer promoting the National Popular Vote campaign.

Credit to Joey Mannarino for digging up this footage.

Mannarino writes:

Tom Emmer, who is running for Speaker of the House, is a major proponent of ditching the Electoral College and going to a “National Popular Vote”.

This is clearly unconstitutional and a completely insane position for someone who claims to be a Constitutional Conservative to take.

Make sure you retweet this video far and wide so everyone can know what we are dealing with.

Emmer is not a conservative. With this position, I don’t even know if you can call him a Republican.

Absolutely NEVER let this man become Speaker.

WATCH:

Mannarino added:

Here is another video of Tom Emmer, Kevin McCarthy’s endorsed candidate for Speaker, furiously defending ditching the Electoral College in favor of a National Popular Vote.

This is not a position a Constitutional Conservative can take.

Tom Emmer must NEVER be allowed to become Speaker.

WATCH:

“Tom Emmer has just received the nomination to be the House Speaker. This was done via a secret ballot. We can expect some Republicans to block this on the floor, but Democrats are now saying they will help get Emmer over the finish line,” Mannarino commented Tuesday.

“The GOP establishment has given the biggest middle finger in modern history to their voters. Emmer is the worst the conference could offer without pulling Nancy Pelosi out of retirement and voting for her. The man voted to certify 2020, supports funding Ukraine until the war is won, hates Donald Trump and supports abolishing the Electoral College. This is the biggest disgrace I’ve ever seen take place in our party,” he added.

The Star Tribune reports:

Republicans started the process on Tuesday with seven candidates and went through five rounds of voting to pick Emmer as their nominee amid the party’s dire struggle to find a replacement for former speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“We must come together for the good of the American people and ensure that our best days are ahead,” Emmer said in a letter announcing his bid over the weekend.

Emmer’s nomination sets up a floor vote on his effort to be the highest ranking lawmaker in the U.S. House.

“Everyone knows Tom,” Minnesota GOP Rep. Brad Finstad, who supports Emmer for speaker, said earlier this week about House Republicans. “So there’s no introduction to who he is and how his style is. People know what to expect with him. He’s a steady hand.”

If he wins, Emmer, 62, would make history as the first Minnesota lawmaker to serve as speaker of the house, second in the succession line to the presidency after the vice president. But getting there will be difficult, especially given the severe tensions rippling through the Republican party.

 

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