Who is Byron Donalds? The latest Republican nominee for House speaker pitted against Kevin McCarthy

Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida emerged as an alternative for conservative holdouts who are refusing to back Kevin McCarthy's quest for House speaker as Republicans battled for a second day to elect a speaker. In the three rounds of voting that took place on Wednesday (4 January), Donalds received 20 votes to McCarthy's 201,preventingMcCarthy from receiving the 218 votes necessary to be elected speaker of the full House. Republicans opposed to McCarthy nominated a broad selection of candidates on Tuesday, including former New York representative Lee Zeldin and representatives Andy Biggs of Arizona and Jim Jordan of Ohio. Donalds switched his vote from McCarthy to Jordan on Tuesday's final vote, siding with the rebel Republicans.

Byron Donalds: Early days

Donalds, 44, was chosen to serve Florida's 19th District, in the state's southwest, for a second term in November. To succeed retiring Republican Rep. Francis Rooney, Donalds won a nine-way GOP (another way of referring to the Republican party)primary and defeated his Democratic challenger in his first election in 2020.

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A Brooklyn native who graduated from Florida State University in 2002, he was brought upby a single mother. He was working as a financial adviser when then-Gov. Rick Scott named him to the board of trustees of a public college, raising his ranks in Florida's GOP circles. Erika Donalds, his wife, is a supporter of the state's school choice movement.

Donalds acknowledged being detained as a young man on a marijuana distribution allegation that was subsequently dropped, and he claimed to have reformed his life after that episode. In 2012, he campaigned unsuccessfully for the US House; four years later, he was elected to the Georgia House.

House speaker votes

Donalds told CBS in December 2021 that McCarthy had "done tremendous things" for House Republicans. “So right now, the question is, who’s going to be the person that’s going to take us to the next level?” Donalds said. “Kevin’s proven he can do that.”

Donalds supported McCarthy in the first two rounds of voting on Tuesday before backing Jordan in the third. Donalds tweeted as a result, saying, “reality is … McCarthy doesn’t have the votes.”

“This will take time, Democracy is messy at times, but we will be ready to govern on behalf of the American people,” Donalds added. “Debate is healthy.”

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Donalds cast votes in favour of himself on Wednesday when his name was put up for nomination. After one of those votes, Donalds appeared on Fox to advocate for leadership that“actually reflects where the American people are, and that leadership is something that is earned here in the nation’s Capitol, not just given.”

What do other representatives think of Byron Donalds?

On Tuesday, only one member—Rep. Chip Roy of Texas—voted in favour of Donalds for speaker before switching to Jordan. Roy stated in his address on Wednesday presenting Donalds that the sophomore stood for a change for both Washington and the Republican Party.

“Here we are, and for the first time in history, there have been two Black Americans placed into the nomination for speaker of the House,” Roy said, referring to Donalds and Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries. “This country needs a change. This country needs leadership that does not reflect this city, this town that is badly broken.”

There are now only four Black Republicans in the House, including Donalds.

Donalds was referred to as a "prop" by Cori Bush, a Black Democratic congresswoman from Missouri.

“Despite being Black, he supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy. His name being in the mix is not progress — it’s pathetic,” she tweeted.

Furthermore,Nominating Donalds in the fifth round, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado said the House’s job “is not to coronate the biggest fundraiser, or rubberstamp the status quo or keep on going along to get along. It’s to use our votes to elect a speaker who will enable us to get our country back on track.”

While speaking to reporters on the capitol steps,Donalds on Wednesday called the ongoing debate “an invigorating day for America.” He also noted that“there’s a lot of members in the chamber who want to have serious conversations about how we can bring this all to a close and elect a speaker.”

“Once we get this organized and figured out, we’ll get back to business,” he said. “It’s only Day Two, y’all. Settle down. We’re going to be all right.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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