Despite Republican divisions nationally, Wisconsin’s GOP delegation sticks together in speaker votes

Congressional Republicans again failed to unite behind a new House speaker Wednesday, but Republican members of Wisconsin’s U.S. House delegation stuck together.

All six of Wisconsin’s GOP U.S. House members voted for U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio for the second day in a row, even as Jordan ended up with fewer total votes.

Julia Azari is a political science professor at Marquette University. She said that while Wisconsin Republicans may have differences internally, remaining united on the speaker vote lets them say they were team players.

“The other thing I think is probably in mind is this idea that, well, you know, I cast a vote for order, I cast a vote to move forward and not to be stuck in this leaderless gridlock,” she said.

Every House Democrat voted for their minority leader, U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, to be the next speaker.

Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat from the Town of Vermont, said the repeated failures to elect a leader makes Republicans look like they don’t know how to govern.

“Jim Jordan is one of the leaders of the extreme wing of the Republican Party,” Pocan told Wisconsin Public Radio. “And for Wisconsin Republicans to vote for him over and over means they’re supporting that extreme agenda.”

Pocan said there is an offer from Democrats to elect a permanent speaker with a bipartisan coalition.

“There’s no evidence that the Republicans are able to move forward at this point,” he said. “The only way to do something, it appears, is to do it in a bipartisan way, and we’re willing to do that.”

As of yet, no lawmakers have crossed party lines.

It is not clear when Republicans will try again to hold another vote for a permanent speaker.