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October 08, 2015

McCarthy drops out of speaker race, election postponed

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced yesterday that he was taking himself out of the running for a Republican candidate to replace Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

The announcement came just prior to a scheduled Republican caucus meeting and led to the postponement of a Republican election to choose a nominee for speaker.

House Republicans will hold closed-door elections to choose a speaker nominee to be voted on by the full House. McCarthy had been expected to win the top position. That House vote had been scheduled for Oct. 29, the day before Boehner was set to step down. Now, according to POLITICO, Boehner has said the election will be postponed and he will remain in the position until a replacement is chosen.

McCarthy cited a "need to be united" during a press conference and said the party needs "a new face." He said he will continue on as majority leader.