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From the journalists at NBC News and the NBC News Political Unit

Newly appointed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks at a news conference
Newly appointed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks on opening day of the 118th Congress in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.Andrew Harnik / AP

Tuesday wasn't Jeffries' first time getting a vote for House Speaker

The newly minted Democratic leader actually received a vote in the 2021 Speaker of the House election.

By Ben Kamisar

When Democrats unanimously voted for New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries in Tuesday's Speaker of the House vote, it was his first time sitting for the vote as leader of the House Democrats.

But it wasn't his first time receiving a vote for Speaker of the House. Jeffries received one vote in 2021, when then-Pennsylvania Rep. Conor Lamb chose him over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (Lamb repeatedly promised during his campaign not to vote for Pelosi, and had previously voted for Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Joe Kennedy III in 2019.)

Only one other Democrat received a vote for speaker in 2021, Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth — from Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden.

When Pelosi narrowly won her speakership in 2019, Democrats were more varied in their picks. Politicians receiving votes included Duckworth, then-Ill. Rep. Cheri Bustos, then-former Vice President Joe Biden, then-Georgia Rep. John Lewis, Kennedy III, then-Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy, Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, and Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams.

Ben Kamisar

Ben Kamisar is a national political reporter for NBC News