Johnson wins first speaker ballot, still lacks majority

Mike Johnson won the most votes in the House GOP's latest attempt to nominate a speaker, though he’s still short the majority he needs to become the conference nominee.

Republicans will now head into another round of voting, with Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (Tenn.) now out of the race, as he received the fewest votes.

Here's the vote breakdown for the first ballot:

Johnson: 85
Byron Donalds: 32
Mark Green: 23
Roger Williams: 21
Fleischmann: 10
Other: 31
Present: 2

House Republicans will keep voting by secret ballot until a candidate receives a simple majority of the conference. If candidates continue to win by pluralities, the contender with the lowest number will be eliminated after each vote.

Johnson came in second to Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) in a candidate forum earlier Tuesday. Later in the day, Emmer dropped out when it became clear he couldn’t get the needed votes after former President Donald Trump came out against him.

Johnson is trying again and is a frontrunner for the nomination, along with one other returning candidate, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.). But there are three new names as well, including Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.).