Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election, October 2015 facts for kids

The United States House of Representatives held an election for its leader, the Speaker of the House, on October 29, 2015. This election happened because the previous Speaker, John Boehner, announced he would be stepping down on October 30. The Speaker of the House is a very important position, second in line to become President of the United States after the Vice President, according to the Presidential Succession Act. In this election, Paul Ryan was chosen as the new Speaker and started his job right away on October 29, 2015.

Why a New Speaker Was Needed

The election for a new Speaker happened because John Boehner, who was the Speaker at the time, decided to resign. This meant the House of Representatives needed to choose a new leader.

At first, Kevin McCarthy, who was the second-in-command to the Speaker as the House Majority Leader, was expected to win. However, some members of his own party, especially a group called the Freedom Caucus, did not support him. Because of this, Kevin McCarthy decided to drop out of the race on October 8. This made the election even more interesting!

Who Ran for Speaker

After Kevin McCarthy dropped out, a few other people officially announced they wanted to be Speaker.

Official Candidates

These are the people who officially said they were running:

• Nancy Pelosi from the Democratic Party. She was the leader of the Democratic members in the House (called the Minority Leader) and had been Speaker before from 2007 to 2011. She represents California.
• Paul Ryan from the Republican Party. He represented Wisconsin in the House and was in charge of a powerful committee called the Ways and Means Committee. He had also run for Vice President in 2012.
• Daniel Webster from the Republican Party. He represented Florida in the House.

• 

  Minority Leader
  Nancy Pelosi
  of California
• 

  Representative
  Paul Ryan
  of Wisconsin
• 

  Representative
  Daniel Webster
  of Florida

Candidates Who Withdrew

Some people started running but then decided to stop:

• Jason Chaffetz from the Republican Party (Utah). He withdrew on October 20, 2015, and supported Paul Ryan.
• Bill Flores from the Republican Party (Texas). He withdrew on October 22, 2015, and also supported Paul Ryan.
• Kevin McCarthy from the Republican Party (California). He was the Majority Leader but withdrew from the race on October 8, 2015.

• 

  Representative
  Jason Chaffetz
  of Utah
• 

  Representative
  Bill Flores
  of Texas
• 

  Majority Leader
  Kevin McCarthy
  of California

Images for kids

• 

  John Boehner

• 

  Kevin McCarthy (CA-23)

• 

  Paul Ryan (WI-01)

• 

  Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin