VICTORY

Paul Ryan Elected House Speaker

Easily hits the 218-vote requirement.

Rep. Paul Ryan was officially elected to succeed John Boehner as speaker of the House during a Thursday morning vote. Republican congresswoman Jackie Walorski cast the 218th “yea” vote, which put Ryan over the majority mark (he ended up with 236), beating out Nancy Pelosi’s 184 votes, and Tea Party challenger Daniel Webster’s nine votes.

Upon accepting the gavel, Ryan addressed the House. “Let’s pray for each other. Republicans for Democrats, and Democrats for Republicans,” he said. “And I don’t mean pray for a conversion. Pray for a deeper understanding.”

“We are not settling scores,” he added. “We are wiping the slate clean.”

Perhaps setting the tone for how he will handle his conservative colleagues, Ryan later said, “We are not going to have a House that looks like it’s looked the last few years.… Our party lost its vision, and we are going to replace it with a vision.”