Byron Donalds switches his vote from Kevin McCarthy for speaker

• On the third ballot, Byron Donalds voted for Jim Jordan over Kevin McCarthy.
• If McCarthy’s trail reappears, Donalds may reconsider his mind.
• The Florida Republican wouldn’t specify who he’d vote for as speaker.

Republican Rep. Byron Donalds said on Wednesday that he switched his vote for House Speaker on the third ballot from Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to Ohio Republican Jim Jordan after realizing “he doesn’t have a pathway to get there.”

However, he hinted he might be willing to change his mind if McCarthy’s path reappears.

“What I’m going to do right now is vote for who I think is in the best interest of the conference. My vote yesterday was basically to break a deadlock, because we were deadlocked, and we were not getting anywhere,” Donalds said on this on a reupdated media outlet.

“Right now, he doesn’t have a pathway to get there. If that reemerges, yeah, I can be there, that’s fine, but what’s necessary now is that Republicans come together and find a way to elect a speaker,” he added.

The Florida Republican said he hasn’t spoken with McCarthy since switching his vote on the third ballot on Tuesday.

He also said he thought it was “very possible” that more members might defect from supporting McCarthy when voting resumes at noon on Wednesday.

The Republican declined to say who he planned to vote for as speaker on subsequent ballots.

“I think there are members who are having, they’re having concerns right now, obviously people back home are weighing in on what they feel, who they feel should be the next speaker of the House.

It’s possible – right now that’s open to interpretation,” Donalds said.

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