Even though Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., eventually voted for Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., to stay on as House speaker, his initial vote has spurred talk about the South Carolina congressman being primaried, The Washington Times reported on Saturday.
On Friday during the vote for speaker of the House, Norman originally voted for Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, which would have put Johnson’s speakership in peril. Following a call from President-elect Donald Trump inititated by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Norman asked the clerk to change his vote to Johnson.
Yet that last-minute change of heart wasn't enough for some in Norman's state with Wesley Donehue, a GOP strategist in South Carolina, calling for Norman to be primaried.
"I have a team of 90 political operatives i'm ready to put to work to take out Ralph Norman and I know every inch of the district like the back of my hand. He doesn't support MAGA and he's an embarrassment to South Carolina," Donehue posted on X.
Mick Mulvaney, who served in two positions during the first Trump administration, might have been throwing his hat in the ring when word spead of voter discontent with Norman's initial vote.
"I might know a little about SC5. How can I help?" he posted on X.
Norman was unfazed when asked about the primary threat emerging against him.
"I hadn't heard that," he said. "That's fine, though."
Norman said it was his conversation with Johnson, not Trump, that eased his mind.
"We just impressed on Mike the seriousness of what he's about to do. Is he gonna fight for financial stops? Is he gonna fight? And that was our whole question. Trump was helpful, but I knew where Trump stood," Norman told Politico.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the lone GOP holdout, with even perpetual Johnson skeptics Chip Roy of Texas and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia eventually casting a vote for the speaker.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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