A Central Florida-area congressman will make another run for U.S. House Speaker.
Rep. Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden, issued this statement Friday:
“My goal is for the House of Representatives to be based on principle, not on power. Every Member of Congress deserves a seat at the table to be involved in the process. I will continue fighting for this to become a reality in Washington, and will be running for Speaker of the House.”
Webster was nominated for the job, and ran against House Speaker John Boehner back in January. Webster got 12 votes and Boehner was re-elected. However, the election was considered an example of the deep schism between establishment Republicans and tea party lawmakers who found Boehner to be too accommodating and not conservative enough.
It's widely believed Webster was kicked off the House Rules Committee because he challenged Boehner.
Boehner announced Friday he would resign from Congress at the end of October. Tea party members were pushing for a formal challenge to Boehner's position as speaker after he refused to threaten a government shutdown over calls to strip government funding of Planned Parenthood.
Webster, who was elected to the U.S. House in 2010, has experience in legislative leadership. Before Washington he served in the Florida House, where he was House Speaker. He was also Florida Senate majority leader.