{"id":5208,"date":"2026-06-26T09:34:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T09:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5208"},"modified":"2026-06-26T09:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T09:34:28","slug":"this-democratic-congresswoman-almost-helped-elect-a-republican-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5208","title":{"rendered":"This Democratic congresswoman almost helped elect a Republican speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) explains why she contemplated supporting Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) in 2023 with an extremely rare crossover vote.<\/strong><\/p>

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Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) in 2023. (Ricky Carioti\/The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

As the votes <\/b>to install then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) as House speaker crawled to a 14th consecutive failure in January 2023, salvation nearly came from a Democrat.<\/p>\n

With McCarthy still unable to persuade a small band of Republican holdouts<\/a> to hand him the gavel, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) seriously considered crossing party lines to provide the decisive vote that would make McCarthy speaker and end the chaos.<\/p>\n

Kaptur, a 22-term member who is now facing a tough reelection fight in a conservative-leaning district around Toledo, said in an interview that she contemplated voting for McCarthy to get Congress \u201cback to the business of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis craziness makes us look ridiculous to the world, and it\u2019s certainly ridiculous to the American people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her consideration of a crossover vote for speaker \u2014 a rare and politically perilous act that has occurred only once in modern congressional history<\/a>, in 2001 \u2014 is among the most remarkable revelations in a new book published this week about McCarthy\u2019s protracted battle for the job.<\/p>\n

In his book \u201cGlory, Grief and the Gavel,\u201d McCarthy\u2019s former floor director, John Leganski, recalls a conversation between Kaptur and Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio) toward the end of the fourth day of unsuccessful votes. A group of far-right members had repeatedly denied McCarthy their support for the speakership as they extracted concessions that would empower them<\/a> within the GOP caucus.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarcy, if you want, you can end this right now,\u201d Turner told Kaptur, according to Leganski. \u201cI\u2019ll go to the well with you and we can change your vote and this will all be over.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Democrats caught wind that Kaptur was wavering, Leganski wrote, then-Minority Whip Katherine M. Clark (D-Massachusetts) \u201cswooped in\u201d and intercepted Kaptur, \u201cangrily talking her out of the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither Turner\u2019s nor Clark\u2019s representatives responded to questions about the account.<\/p>\n

Kaptur initially appeared reluctant to discuss it as well.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson, Ben Kamens, provided a statement in which he touted Kaptur\u2019s willingness to work in \u201ca bipartisan fashion\u201d but said she would \u201cnot partake in guessing games or sharing details of private member conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Kaptur will not add to this conjecture and hearsay,\u201d Kamens added.<\/p>\n

But a Washington Post reporter spoke to Kaptur, who said she had not seen what Leganski wrote, as she left the House floor Thursday.<\/p>

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Kaptur said she would have voted for McCarthy as part of a larger plan to restore \u201cregular order\u201d rather than to make a partisan point.<\/p>\n

She said she hoped to bring together a half-dozen members in an independent caucus that could pull the narrowly divided House away from political extremism and toward function, but no Republicans would join her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was trying to find a different fulcrum,\u201d Kaptur said. \u201cI tried to create a middle that could help move the institution to at least some level of sanity. I didn\u2019t succeed. I couldn\u2019t find partners to dance with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaptur said she approached several Republicans that she considered sensible, including Turner, about her plan. In the interview, she did not explain what else she believed they could accomplish besides getting McCarthy elected as speaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were not willing to do it,\u201d Kaptur said. \u201cAnd I thought, \u2018Okay, so drown in your own chaos.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time Clark approached her, Kaptur said, it was already clear that her idea was not going to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe must have seen me talking to somebody and so she came over and said, \u2018Marcy, come on back to our side,\u2019\u201d Kaptur said. \u201cI said: \u2018I\u2019m not not on your side. I\u2019m trying to do something else.\u2019 But it was too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCarthy eventually won on the 15th ballot<\/a>, though his victory was short-lived. A handful of Republican rebels joined with Democrats, including Kaptur, to remove him from the position<\/a> just nine months later.<\/p>\n

The longest-serving woman in the history of Congress, Kaptur is running for reelection again in November. She faces a challenging campaign after the Ohio legislature last fall redrew her district<\/a>, which voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, to lean even more Republican.<\/p>\n

Kaptur said she did not consider at the time whether supporting McCarthy\u2019s speakership bid might spark backlash among her Democratic base or boost her moderate credentials with Republicans. She noted that she has long been a political target for the GOP and survived because of her broad reach in her district.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can gerrymander me all they want. The problem is they\u2019re not doing what they need to do to help the American people,\u201d she said. \u201cThey want power, but they don\u2019t really deliver.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Third consecutive bullpen collapse leaves Nationals reeling and back at .500<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) explains why she contemplated supporting Rep. 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