U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., took the gavel Friday in a closely watched election. But, unsurprisingly, he did so without the help of the Bay State’s Capitol Hill delegation.
All nine Democratic members of the Massachusetts House caucus voted for U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., according to a count published by The Washington Post.
The Massachusetts lawmakers’ votes were not a surprise. All 215 House Democrats were expected to endorse Jeffries on Friday.
“Democrats will be out in full force and committed to voting for Hakeem Jeffries,” U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-5th District, the minority whip, he told MSNBC before the vote.
Jeffries has shown “time and time again that he is committed to taking the concerns of the American people to Congress and giving them back solutions,” Clark told MSNBC.
Johnson, who had the support of President-elect Donald Trump, won over skeptics at his own conference to win re-election for another term on Friday as president of the Chamber.
Johnson narrowly edged out Jeffries 218-215, with U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., casting a single vote, The Post reported.
In a statement, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District, who was sworn into her fourth term on Friday, said that “every decision I make and every vote I take will continue to be guided by one question: How does this get better the lives of the people I have the privilege of serving?
“The road ahead will not be easy, especially under Republican control of the federal government,” the Westford Democrat said. “However, I remain committed to working with anyone, regardless of political affiliation, who shares the goal of improving the communities we represent.”
Trump called Johnson’s re-election an “unprecedented vote of confidence in Congress” in a post on Truth Social. The Associated Press reported.
“The American people have waited four years for common sense, strength and leadership,” Trump wrote. “They will get it now and America will be greater than ever.”
The president-elect had endorsed Johnson and sent well wishes Friday before the vote, the wire service reported.