On January 6, the U.S. House elected a speaker. Members of the House were permitted to vote for anyone they wished. Fifteen individuals received at least one vote for Speaker. Here is a link to the vote.

Article One, Section Two, of the U.S. Constitution says that a new House shall elect a Speaker. The Constitution does not say the Speaker must be an elected member of the House, and members are permitted to vote for anyone, nominated or not. The Republican caucus had already nominated John Boehner for Speaker, and the Democratic caucus had already nominated Nancy Pelosi. But 28 members of the House voted for someone other than those two.

Three individuals who are not members of the House received a vote: Retired General Colin Powell received one vote from Jim Cooper (D-Tennessee). U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama received one vote from Gary Palmer (R-Alabama). U.S. Senator Rand Paul received one vote from Curt Clawson (R-Florida).

Congressman Dan Webster (R-Florida) received twelve votes, all from Republicans. Webster voted for himself.

Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) received three votes, all from Republicans. Gohmert voted for himself.

Congressman Ted Yoho (R-Florida) received two votes, both from Republicans. Yoho voted for himself.

Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) received two votes, both from Republicans. Jordan did not vote for himself.

Six other members of the House received one vote, and one member of Congress voted “present” (which is an abstention).

These votes did not affect the outcome. Boehner received 216 votes and Pelosi received 164.

Voters who wish to vote for someone who hadn’t been formally nominated (in other words, voters who want to cast a write-in vote) are not permitted to do that in the general election in California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma, or South Dakota. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

Texas held a special election for State House, district 17, on January 6. Five candidates ran. Texas special elections don’t have party nominees; all candidates file and run in the same election, and if no one gets 50%, there is a runoff.

The vote was: Republican John Cyrier 3,515; Republican Brent Goleman 1,866; independent Linda Curtis 1,046; Democrat Ty McDonald 907; Democrat Shelley Cartier 290. Because no one got 50%, there will be a runoff between Cyrier and Goleman.

Curtis, the independent candidate, placed third, ahead of both Democrats. This is probably the first time in decades that an independent outpolled major party members in any Texas race for federal or state office. Texas hasn’t elected an independent to the legislature since 1936. Here is a link to the Secretary of State’s web page, giving election returns for that race.

In November 2014, the vote for this district was: Republican Tim Kleinschmidt 64.6%; Democrat Carolyn Banks 35.4%.

Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke) has introduced HB 1463. It eases the vote test for a group to obtain and retain political party status. The bill lowers the vote test from 10% to 4% at either of the last two statewide elections.

If the bill were to pass, the Libertarian Party would be ballot-qualified for 2016, because it got 6.52% for Governor in November 2013. In November 2014, for U.S. Senate, it did not get 4%; it got 2.43%.

Rasoul is in his first term.

The reason the existing Virginia vote test applies to the next two statewide elections, instead of just the next election, is that in 1990, the Democratic Party didn’t run anyone for U.S. Senate, which was the only statewide office up that year. After the election, the legislature quickly changed the vote test so that the Democratic Party would remain on the ballot. The 1990 precedent shows that when the legislature eases the vote test, it applies retrospectively. “Retrospective” means that when a bill takes effect, election administrators can look to past election returns to apply the new law.

The Virginia vote test is tied for being second-highest in the nation. The other 10% vote test states are Oklahoma and New Jersey. Alabama, at 20%, has the highest vote test. Thanks to Bill Redpath for this news.