WASHINGTON – Rep. John Boehner of Ohio won election Thursday as House majority leader, promising a steady hand and a helping of reform for Republicans staggered by election-year scandal.
Boehner, who replaces indicted Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, said the GOP “must act swiftly to restore the trust between Congress and the American people.”
He defeated Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri on a vote of 122-109 by House Republicans after trailing his rival on an inconclusive first round.
“Life goes on,” shrugged Blunt, who has long had close ties to DeLay and had been the acknowledged front-runner in a race to replace him. Blunt retains his post as GOP whip, third-ranking in the leadership behind Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Boehner.
“People were ready for more reform than he (Blunt) was offering,” said Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who supported a third contender, John Shadegg of Arizona, on the first ballot.
Flake added that Rep. Bill Thomas of California, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, told fellow Republicans before the vote that Boehner was “a bridge to the old Revolution days,” when the GOP stood for political change.
Rep. David Hobson of Ohio, who backed Boehner, said the new leader will be “good on TV, good on policy. Democrats fear and respect him because they know he’s tough, but he is also fair.”
Boehner and DeLay have clashed repeatedly over the years, but the election had scarcely ended when Democrats launched an effort to depict the winner as a continuation of the status quo.
“As the Who famously said, ‘Meet the new boss, same as the old boss,’” said Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the Democratic congressional campaign committee.
Last month, Boehner refused to return some $30,000 in donations from American Indian tribes represented by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Boehner has been criticized as well for the donations he has received from Sallie Mae. The nation’s largest provider of student loans has interests before the committee that he leads.
As majority leader, Boehner’s first challenge will be to work with Hastert and the rank-and-file to find consensus on legislation designed to curtail the influence of lobbyists in Congress.
Beyond that, he said Republicans “must take the necessary steps to get the federal budget under control – to cut wasteful spending, reform our entitlement programs and craft a budget process that encourages fiscal discipline.
“And we must recommit ourselves to reducing the influence of government in our lives.”
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