Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola voted for the first time in Congress since the death of her husband five weeks ago, when a plane that he was piloting crashed while flying moose meat out of a hunting camp.
Peltola was given a standing ovation for returning to work by colleagues sympathetic to the trials she has gone through losing her husband in the tragic accident.
She wrote on Twitter that she wants a speaker who can work with both parties. In her mind, that appears to be Hakeem Jeffries, House minority leader.
“Let’s … elect a Speaker that’s ready to work with everyone. Republicans and Democrats do this in AK. We can do it in DC,” she wrote, attempting to put a bipartisan face on what is a partisan process.
Rep. Jim Jordan was the Republican nominee, and Peltola voted against him. In January, she voted 15 times for Jeffries as speaker, sticking with all the Democrats.
This time she also voted for Jeffries, who received 212 votes — all from Democrats.
Although 200 voted for Jordan (and 20 for other members), Jordan needs 17 more votes in order to win. So would Jeffries, but with the makeup of the House being Republican majority, it’s doubtful any Republican would vote for the far-left Democrat.
There will be upcoming votes, as early as Tuesday evening, Jordan said: “We’ve already talked to some members who are gonna vote with us on the second ballot,” he told reporters.
Several people identifying as socialists on X/Twitter said they want Peltola as speaker.
