WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Rep.-elect Anna Paulina Luna on Tuesday voted twice against GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, so far joining enough colleagues to deny him the House speaker position.
Luna, who in November defeated Democratic opponent Eric Lynn in Florida's 13th Congressional District that largely encompasses Pinellas County, joined 19 House Republicans on the second ballot in voting for Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
She also voted for Jordan in round one.
McCarthy became the first House speaker nominee in 100 years to fail to win the gavel from his fellow party members on the initial vote, according to The Associated Press.
Luna recently claimed she was threatened by another House member because of her opposition to McCarthy. Speaking to Steve Bannon, a former advisor to former President Donald Trump, alluded to not being bullied into voting for him.
Newsweek reported on the conversation in a video shared by PatriotTakes, a Twitter account made up of "dedicated researchers monitoring and exposing right-wing extremism and other threats to democracy."
After two rounds of voting, McCarthy received 203 votes each — less than the Democrats' nominee for House speaker, Hakeem Jeffries. McCarthy pledged a "battle on the floor" for as long as it took to overcome right-flank fellow Republicans who were refusing to give him their votes, according to the AP.
A third round of voting was underway as of this writing.
Republicans won a slim majority in the House in last November's elections; they need to unify behind a speaker — a person who is second in succession to the presidency — before Congress can do its work.
