Friday, June 20, 2014

Kevin McCarthy beats Raul Labrador to become House majority leader --- Moderate California congressman replaces Eric Cantor after seeing off challenge from Tea Party-backed Labrador -- The crucial contest for Republican majority leader in the House of Representatives has been won by Kevin McCarthy, after a swift, decisive victory that will reassure a party establishment shaken by the sudden demise of Eric Cantor. -- However in a significant victory for southern conservatives in the GOP, a separate election for chief whip was won decisively by a staunch rightwinger from Louisiana, Steve Scalise. -- Cantor's stunning primary defeat to a virtually unknown Tea Party candidate last week forced him to stand down as majority leader and prompted a frenzied period of jockeying for power in the top ranks of the party. -- The establishment's preferred candidate, moved quickly to control the race, seeing off a number of potential rightwing contenders. -- McCarthy, 49, a popular, well-connected Californian, whose rapid ascent through the ranks marks him out as a future GOP star, triumphed over Raul Labrador, a Tea Party-aligned member from Idaho. -- The election for majority leader and majority whip, the second and third ranking jobs in the House, were decided at a closed-door ballot held by House Republicans on Capitol Hill on Thursday. -- They were secret ballots, in which three party elders manually counted the ballot papers and then announced the winner to the meeting. The breakdown of votes were not revealed. -- In brief remarks after the vote, McCarthy was asked to respond to grassroots Republicans should felt Cantor’s defeat by a Tea Party insurgent should have resulted in a more conservative majority leader – rather than the election of a member from the Democratic state of California. -- “They elected a guy who is a grandson of a cattle-rancher, the son of a firefighter,” McCarthy said. “They elected a guy who has only grown-up with the grassroots.” - More, Paul Lewis http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/19/kevin-mccarthy-house-majority-leader

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