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Republican Kevin McCarthy fell short of the 218 votes needed to be elected as majority house speaker in the 13th round of voting on Friday (January 6) afternoon.
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Republican Kevin McCarthy gained significant support but still fell short in the 12th round of voting for House speaker Friday (January 6) afternoon, extending the longest speaker contest in 164 years, CNN reports.
McCarthy received 213 votes during the latest round of U.S. House Speaker voting, followed by Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, who had previously received more votes than McCarthy ahead of Friday's vote and will likely serve as minority House speaker.
McCarthy managed to gain 14 Republican holdouts, however, still fell short of the 218 votes needed to be elected as majority house speaker.
Fellow Republicans Jim Jordan and Kevin Hern also received four and three votes, respectively.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, a key ally of McCarthy, told CNN that the California congressman has gained "momentum" and said he expects McCarthy to gain more votes on Friday.
McCarthy said he felt "very good" about the flipped votes while exiting the House chamber on Friday afternoon.
“We’ve got a couple people out," McCarthy said via CNN, though not clarifying how many more votes he expected to flip in the next round of voting.
Congressional members cannot be sworn in until after the House speaker is elected.
Members-elect have the ability to change their votes until the voting process is gaveled over.