Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) secured his position, and gavel, as speaker of the House for a third consecutive term. To some, this came as a disappointment, considering there was much anti-Boehner rhetoric during the midterm elections. The vote was 216-192, with 25 members voting against Boehner. This is the biggest defection from an incumbent speaker in the past 100 years, according to the Washington Post.

Though Boehner may not think so, many Conservatives believe he is an establishment or Republican in name only —called a R.I.N.O — Republican who, rather than standing for the core values of Republicanism, will appease the Democrats and the president to remain in good standing with them. Two firm believers in this include Reps. Ted Yoho(R-Florida) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), both of whom ran against the incumbent speaker in hopes of steering the House in the right direction in the new 114th Congressional Session.

It is unfortunate that the members who strongly desired a change in leadership did not put 100 percent of their time and effort to see that change happen. The three congressmen who were up against Boehner — Yoho, Gohmert and Daniel Webster (R-Florida) — did not launch formal campaigns to whip votes effectively. If these speaker contenders had done so, their longing for change could have come to fruition.

As the Jan. 6 speaker election approached, there were rumblings of defiance toward Boehner’s re-election. However, the threat was not enough to put his seat in danger. The problem with this was that there was more chatter than action being done. Members were aware that they needed 29 votes against Boehner to stop him from scoring a third term, however according to Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Virginia), speaker candidate Ted Yoho did nothing to whip votes in favor of him. If he had put a little more effort into gaining support for him as speaker, there is a chance he could have earned the four votes necessary to stop Boehner from keeping his gavel.

Some of the representative didn’t need convincing; Tea Party favorites Reps. Steve King (R-Iowa), Jeff Duncan (R- South Carolina) and Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) were guaranteed not to vote for Boehner. Freshman member Rep. David Brat (R-Virginia) made his official first splash by not voting for Boehner, yet this too does not come as a surprise, considering he ran on a very Conservative platform when he defeated former Majority Leader Eric Cantor for the job.

A handful of congressmen who are often thought of as being more conservative made a shocking choice to vote for the incumbent. This list includes Rep. Trent Franks (R-Arizona), Rep. Diane Black (R- Tennessee), Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Missouri) and Rep. Lloyd “Ted” Poe (R-Texas), all of which are members of the Tea Party Caucus. If a more thoughtful campaign was executed, these votes could have sent Boehner home packing.

However, there are 216 members that did vote for Boehner. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise made his full-fledged support for the incumbent speaker public in this statement. Said the whip, “Speaker Boehner’s commitment to bold, conservative solutions that reflect the priorities of the American people will move America forward and help get our country back on the right track.”

In spite of the media labeling the 114th session as “the new Congress,” with Boehner as speaker, the 25 members that did not vote for the incumbent speaker remain skeptical of this. There is no doubt that these members will not hold back if the Speaker does not execute his job properly. This should serve as a valuable lesson for future elections — be the change you seek.

Vanessa Salman is a sophomore policy studies major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at vksalman@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @VanessaSalman.

Published on January 14, 2015 at 12:53 am