Kevin McCarthy would be ‘least tenured’ House Speaker of modern era says political professor

OPINION:

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is considered by many to be a likely choice when the vote for House Speaker takes place on Thursday. But there’s some historic baggage. He’s not exactly a senior lawmaker.

“The 19 speakers elected since the turn of the 20th Century averaged nearly 24 years of service in the chamber before their first day as speaker — nearly three times that of McCarthy,” says Eric Ostermeier, a political professor with the University of Minnesota who tracks the trends of yore.

“When McCarthy was elected majority leader after Eric Cantor’s primary loss last June, he was the least tenured floor leader in the history of the House of Representatives by more than a year, at 7 years, 6 months, and 29 days. And now McCarthy is the favorite to become the least tenured speaker since Georgia Democrat Charles Crisp in 1891,” Mr. Ostermeier reports.

When current House Speaker John Boehner exits, Mr. McCarthy will have served 8 years, 9 months, and 27 days in the chamber— 21 more days than Crisp when he took over for Maine Republican Thomas Reed after the GOP lost nearly 100 seats in the 1890 midterms, the researcher says. Things were different in the earlier era, however. The role of House Speaker was not a weighty, larger-than-life identity — in contrast to modern times.

“The 34 speakers elected in the 18th and 19th Centuries had served an average of only seven years and two months prior to their first day as speaker,” Mr. Ostermeier points out. More recent counterparts sometimes waited decades.

“The speaker who had the longest wait before ascending to the chamber’s top leadership position was Massachusetts Democrat John McCormack. McCormack had served 33 years, 2 months, and 4 days when he became speaker in January 1962 nearly two months after the death of Speaker Sam Rayburn of Texas during the 87th Congress,” the professor says in his analysis.