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Republicans still haven’t officially won the House majority, but that hasn’t stopped Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from getting one step closer to ascending to the House’s most powerful post.
Winning his party’s nomination for Speaker through a closed-door vote on Tuesday was McCarthy’s first step—and his easiest. He defeated his lone challenger, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), a leading House conservative, by a reported tally of 188 to 31.
From here, however, the California Republican’s years-long quest for the Speaker’s gavel only gets harder.