Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson Nominated for House Speaker

SHREVEPORT, LA - Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson is the new Republican nominee for House Speaker. Late Tuesday night he emerged from closed door meetings with the leaders of the Republican Party to say "we are united."

After being nominated, Johnson said:

Democracy is messy sometimes, but it is our system. This conference that you see, this House Republican majority, is united.

To shouts of "Mike, Mike, Mike". Johnson address members of the media to say he is prepared for a House floor vote on Wednesday.

After he withdrew his nomination, Emmer quickly left the building where he had been meeting privately with Republicans. “I made my decision based on my relationship with the conference,” he said, referring to the GOP majority. He said he would support whomever emerges as the new nominee. “We'll get it done.”

Republicans have been meeting behind closed doors trying to come up with a candidate who could unite all the different factions in the party and get Congress back to work.

Johnson is a constitutional attorney from Benton, Louisiana. He is a Captain Shreve High School graduate and is married to Kelly. They have four children. He is an LSU Law School graduate.

If Johnson wins the post, Louisiana would have 2 of the highest ranking GOP leaders on Capitol HIll. Steve Scalise is the House Majority Leader.

Republicans control the House 221-212 over Democrats. But that means they can not afford many detractors to get to the 217 votes they need to elect a speaker.

A new federal government shutdown is looming as leaders face a November 17 deadline to pass a new spending bill.