US House Speaker Election: Florida Congressman Joins Race After Jim Jordan Fail

Florida Congressman Byron Donalds has officially entered the US House Speaker Election, a role that would make him second in line for the presidency.

A spokesperson from Donalds' office confirmed his candidacy to WINK News reporter Claire Galt.

This development follows the recent withdrawal of Ohio's Jim Jordan as the Republican nominee for the Speaker position.

US Congressman Cory Mills, another representative from Florida, expressed his support for Donalds as the next Speaker, and US Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart also voiced his endorsement of Byron Donalds for the role.

The House of Representatives has been without a Speaker for 17 days, resulting from the efforts led by Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz to remove Kevin McCarthy from the position of Speaker.

Byron Donalds, a Republican congressman, represents Florida's 19th District.

Byron Donalds

Byron Donalds, a former banker who had recently entered his second term as a congressman, emerged as an alternative to Californian Kevin McCarthy in the race for the House Speaker position back in January, as per Naples Daily News.

Donalds' roots trace back to Brooklyn, and he obtained his bachelor's degree in finance and marketing from Florida State University in 2002.

Subsequently, his career led him to Southwest Florida, where he gained experience in the fields of banking, finance, and insurance.

His political journey began with a run for Congress in 2012, although he came in fifth in a competitive six-person Republican primary.

He initially filed to run in 2014 but eventually withdrew from the race. His electoral career resumed in 2016 when he secured election to the Florida House of Representatives.

After serving two terms in the Florida House, Donalds narrowly won the Republican primary for his current congressional district in 2020, securing victory by less than a 1% margin over state House Republican Dane Eagle.

He went on to comfortably defeat Democrat Cindy Banyai in the general election, surpassing her by more than 22 percentage points. In a subsequent rematch last November, Donalds secured a resounding victory, winning by a margin of 36 points.

The States Newsroom has maintained updates on the House Speaker race, which now includes six candidates vying for the position: Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Jack Bergman of Michigan, Austin Scott of Georgia, Pete Sessions of Texas, Byron Donalds of Florida, and Tom Emmer of Minnesota.

Byron Donalds as House Speaker

Should Byron Donalds secure victory in the US House Speaker Election, he would make history as the first Black man to preside over the US House of Representatives, according to Florida Phoenix.

Notably, New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries achieved a milestone by being elected as the first Black House Minority Leader last year, marking a significant moment in the leadership of a major party's Caucus within Congress.

Before McCarthy assumed the role, Donalds had garnered a devoted following from the far-right of the political spectrum, and he had become a noteworthy figure even before McCarthy was removed from his Speaker position in a historic vote earlier this month.

Donalds, who describes himself as a "Trump-supporting, liberty-loving, pro-life, pro-Second Amendment Black man," has also been mentioned as a potential pick for a Trump vice-presidential candidate or for the role of Florida governor.

Initially, 44-year-old Byron Donalds had not publicly disclosed his intention to run in the US House Speaker Election, citing the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of the selection process.

He expressed a desire to avoid mere publicity stunts or headline-grabbing maneuvers.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

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