Wow. Kevin McCarthy drops out of the Speaker race and the election has now been postponed:

MCCARTHY OUT. Drops out of race for speaker. Election postponed. — Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 8, 2015

The members of the House, especially those who supported McCarthy, are surprised and stunned, according to CNN.







I’ll bring you more on this as we have it.

UPDATE: McCarthy said he doesn’t believe he could unify the conference, says Rep. Charlie Dent via CNN. He believes McCarthy didn’t have the 218 votes needed to secure a victory.

UPDATE: McCarthy plans to stay on as majority leader:

SCOOP: KEVIN MCCARTHY PLANS TO REMAIN MAJORITY LEADER. He will not resign from Congress, and will not step down from leadership — Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 8, 2015

UPDATE: McCarthy explains why he dropped out, saying we need a fresh face: