The only thing you *really* need to know about the Republican candidates for Speaker

It's the democracy, stupid.

There are 9 Republicans running for the chance to be Speaker of the House. Here they are:

Tom Emmer of Minnesota

Mike Johnson of Louisiana

Jack Bergman of Michigan

Byron Donalds of Florida

Kevin Hern of Oklahoma

Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania

Gary Palmer of Alabama

Pete Sessions of Texas

Austin Scott of Georgia

Unless you are a GIANT political nerd, you likely are unfamiliar with some (all?) of these folks. (Admission: I had never heard the name “Gary Palmer” before in my life. Still not totally sure he is a real person.)

That gap in knowledge about the men (and, yes, they are all men) led to a spate of stories over the weekend that sought to introduce people to just who the heck these guys are.

Here’s the New York Times version. And NBC’s. And the Washington Post’s.

Which is of value! One of these people — I mean, maybe — will run the House for the foreseeable future! It matters where they come from, how they got elected and all that.

But, if we are being honest, there’s really only one thing that, ultimately, matters about these men who are seeking the speakership: Do they believe in democracy or not?

That is often a tough question to answer. Because Congress doesn’t usually vote on democracy per se.

Lucky for us, they did in 2020. Because Republicans — led by former president Donald Trump — contested the 2020 election. And the House voted on challenges to the Arizona and Pennsylvania results. (One hundred twenty one Republicans voted to affirm the challenge to the Arizona outcome; 138 did the same on Pennsylvania.)

Of the 9 men running for Speaker, 7 of them voted to uphold either the challenge in Arizona, Pennsylvania or both. The only two who opposed the challenges to the election results were Emmer and Scott.

Here’s what each of the 7 said (or what was written about them) at the time of their votes:

• Mike Johnson: “Scalise and Johnson both said they believed that several battleground states won by Biden had improperly selected presidential electors in explaining their reason for today's vote. The U.S. Supreme Court threw out such a challenge last month, but Johnson in a statement Wednesday said that decision was not based on the merits of the argument.”

• Jack Bergman: “In times of tension and turmoil, leaders stand up and do what is right. I made it very clear this week that I intended to stand for my belief that irregularities, discrepancies, and usurpation of state election laws demanded an investigation into the 2020 election.”

• Byron Donalds: “Unlike my Democratic colleagues, I refuse to turn a blind eye to the fact that several states, including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, neglected the oath of their constitution and the United States Constitution by their failure to follow their election laws. Every Floridian and American deserves to believe that our elections result from a transparent and lawful democratic process.”

• Kevin Hern: “I have a duty to stand firm with the millions of Americans across the country who share deep and legitimate concerns about the integrity of our election system and the unconstitutional changes to the election laws in certain states during the presidential election.”

• Dan Meuser: “If there is an American ideal that all citizens, regardless of party affiliation, can agree upon it is that we must have election integrity. We should not certify these electors, which were derived by unlawful actions, and a result of inaccurate vote tallies.”

• Gary Palmer: “This effort is about protecting election integrity. Free, honest, and fair elections are foundational to our republic, and the general public's confidence in them must be restored. I have serious, well-founded concerns about the manner in which several states conducted the 2020 Presidential election.”

• Pete Sessions: “We believe that there is substantial evidence that we should go and review before we move forward.”

As far as I can tell, none of the seven have walked back those views or votes.

And, even Emmer, as CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski has noted, was party to the Texas lawsuit that sought to overturn the results in four swing states. (The Supreme Court threw the case out.)

In case you are wondering, here’s what Scott said to justify his vote opposing the Arizona and Pennsylvania challenges:

“Congress does not have the Constitutional authority to overturn a state’s electoral votes - nor does the Vice President - and I believe my decision to support the Electoral College fulfills my sworn oath to the Constitution. I’m also very proud of Vice President Mike Pence, and I am honored to have known him many years and call him a friend. I’m proud of his commitment to fulfilling his duty to the Constitution as well.”

So, yeah. It probably makes sense at this point to note that there is NO EVIDENCE AT ALL that the 2020 election was stolen or fraudulent in any significant way. (Just in case you need a primer on [gestures widely] all of that, read this.)

Which means that to suggest that the 2020 election was, somehow, unfair or deeply flawed is to actively undermine the most basic tenet of our democracy: That we acknowledge the winner of a free and fair election — ideally shortly after that election is over.

That didn’t happen with 7 of the 9 men who want to be the Speaker of the House. And we know exactly why it didn’t happen. Because Donald Trump turned election denialism into a sine qua non for the Republican party. If you wanted to have a future in the party, the logic went, you voted to object to the election results — facts be damned.

So powerful is that pull that Emmer, who, ostensibly, as the House Majority Whip, should be the favorite in this field of 9, is now facing the possible active opposition of the Trump forces — because he didn’t vote to overturn the election!

Here’s the Washington Post on that effort:

Trump doesn’t think highly of Emmer, people familiar with his thinking who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal details said. And immediately after he floated a run for speaker on Friday when Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) went down, people loyal to Trump immediately started to bash Emmer publicly.

Trump donor Caroline Wren slammed Emmer on Steve Bannon’s show on Friday. 

“Everyone who watches the ‘War Room’ posse and this show needs to fight Tom Emmer every step of the way,” Wren said, referring to the name of Bannon’s podcast. 

On the same program, Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn said, “If someone is so out of step with where the Republican electorate is, where the MAGA movement is, how can they even be in the conversation? We need a MAGA speaker.”

(Trump and Emmer reportedly spoke over the weekend. Trump said that Emmer told him he was the “biggest fan” of the former president. So, yeah.)

Take a step back. So far this year, Republicans have successfully nominated one Speaker (Kevin McCarthy) and unsuccessfully nominated two others (Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan). All three of them — just like 7 of the 9 new Speaker nominees — voted to challenge the 2020 results.

That fact suggests, at the very least, that those 7 election deniers running for Speaker may well have a better chance of winning the job than Emmer and Scott, who stood against those effort — in the main — following the 2020 race.

Which speaks to where the Republican party finds itself at this moment. That place? Nowhere good for democracy.