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Also Known As Kevin Owen McCarthy , McCarthy
Kevin Owen McCarthy is an American politician who is the 55th and current speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, McCarthy is in his ninth House term, serving as the U.S. representative for California's 22nd congressional district from 2007 to 2013, the 23rd district from 2013 to 2023, and the 20th district since 2023. Concurrent with his house terms, he served as House Minority Leader from 2019 to 2023 and as House Majority Leader from 2014 to 2019 under Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan.
McCarthy was born in Bakersfield, California. He attended California State University, Bakersfield, while working as a firefighter. McCarthy formerly chaired the California Young Republicans and the Young Republican National Federation. He was a two-term representative in the California State Assembly from 2002 to 2006, the last two years as minority leader. He was elected to Congress in 2006. McCarthy was elected to House leadership in his second term as Republican Chief Deputy Whip from 2009 to 2011. When Republicans took control of the House in 2011, he became majority whip from 2011 until August 2014, when he was elected majority leader to replace the outgoing Eric Cantor, who was defeated in his primary election.
Following the Republican Party's loss in the 2018 midterm elections, McCarthy was elected House minority leader after Speaker Paul Ryan retired, making him the first California Republican to hold the post. McCarthy was a steady defender of former president Donald Trump for most of his time as majority leader and minority leader. McCarthy supported Trump's debunked claims of voter fraud after Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, and participated in efforts to overturn the results. After the January 6 United States Capitol attack, McCarthy blamed Trump for the riot and reversed his previous comments on there being voter fraud in the election.By 2022, however, he had walked back those comments and reconciled with Trump.
After Republicans gained the majority in the 2022 House elections, McCarthy was the Republican nominee for speaker when the 118th Congress convened in January 2023. Due to opposition from members of the Freedom Caucus, he failed to win the speakership until the 15th ballot, on January 7. It was the first time a speaker had not been elected on the first ballot since 1923, and the longest multi-ballot speaker election since 1859.
McCarthy served on the staff of Congressman Bill Thomas from 1987 to 2002. In 1995, he chaired the California Young Republicans. From 1999 to 2001, he chaired the Young Republican National Federation. From the late 1990s until 2000, he was Thomas's district director. McCarthy won his first election in 2000, as a Kern Community College District trustee.Thomas has since criticized McCarthy in numerous interviews.
McCarthy was elected to the California State Assembly in 2002.[28] He became the Republican floor leader in 2003. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2006
McCarthy was born on January 26, 1965, in Bakersfield, California, the son of Roberta Darlene (née Palladino), a homemaker, and Owen McCarthy, an assistant city fire chief. McCarthy is a fourth-generation resident of Kern County. His maternal grandfather was an Italian immigrant, and his paternal grandfather was Irish. McCarthy is the first Republican in his immediate family, as his parents were members of the Democratic Party.
In 1984, 19-year-old McCarthy ran his first business selling sandwiches out of the back of his uncle’s yogurt shop on Stine Road.
He attended California State University, Bakersfield, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in marketing in 1989 and a Master of Business Administration in 1994. During college, he worked as a seasonal firefighter for the Kern County Fire Department.
McCarthy and his wife, Judy, have two children. They are lifelong residents of Bakersfield. He and his family are Baptists and members of the Southern Baptist Convention.
He is a former board member for the Community Action Partnership of Kern.
In October 2015, McCarthy was accused of having an affair with Representative Renee Ellmers. He had unexpectedly dropped out of the race for Speaker of the House shortly before the allegations surfaced. Days earlier, Representative Walter B. Jones Jr. had sent Republican Conference chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers a letter stating that any candidates for a leadership position with "misdeeds" should withdraw from the race. McCarthy and Ellmers have denied the allegation.
An October 2018 investigation documented how William "Bill" Wages, of McCarthy's brother-in-law's company Vortex Construction, has received $7.6 million since 2000 in no-bid and other prime federal contracts. The work was mostly for construction projects at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in McCarthy's Bakersfield-based district, and Naval Air Station Lemoore in California's Kings County.
McCarthy is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers
