Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for House speaker

Rep. Mike Johnson, a relatively little-known Louisiana Republican and low-ranking member of the GOP leadership team, became the party's latest nominee for House speaker Tuesday night after three other hopefuls fizzled out, Report informs via NBC News.

He was nominated just hours after Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., beat Johnson and six other candidates to seize the nomination, only to quickly drop his bid after he failed to secure the near-unanimous GOP support needed on the House floor.

Johnson, the GOP Conference vice chair, could suffer a fate similar to Emmer’s. It remains unclear whether he can garner the 217 Republican votes — a simple majority of the full House — needed to win the coveted gavel.

A floor vote could happen as soon as Wednesday afternoon.

Elected to Congress in 2016, Johnson, 51, is popular and well-liked among his Republican colleagues, and he has carefully avoided making many political enemies on Capitol Hill.

Johnson has a broad base of support, following a path similar to those of two of his political mentors: Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a fellow Louisianan, and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, both of whom also won nominations for speaker but dropped out. All three began as state legislators before they won seats in Congress and were head of the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of conservatives in Congress, before they moved up to leadership posts.

Johnson is seeking to achieve something the last three nominees failed to do: win at least 217 of the 221 Republican votes needed to become speaker. It will be Johnson's decision whether and when to hold such a vote. Jordan held multiple votes and failed, while Scalise and Emmer bowed out before they held any floor votes, recognizing they didn't have a path to victory.

Nationally, Johnson has largely flown under the radar, avoiding the inflammatory rhetoric or theatrical moments many lawmakers use to gain attention. But behind the scenes, he can be influential.