Reactions to McCarthy's ouster vary back home in Bakersfield

Oct. 3—First came the vote, then the inevitable spin.

After a 216-210 vote Tuesday ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy from a job he held for almost nine months, he and his supporters and opponents in Kern County weighed in with very different ideas about how the result should be interpreted — and who was to blame.

The Bakersfield Republican, for his part, took aim at the fellow House GOP member who filed the motion that led to the first-ever removal of a speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

McCarthy told reporters at a news conference after the vote that, for Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., the vote was personal.

"It had nothing to do about spending," McCarthy said. "Everything (Gaetz) accused people of, he was doing."

Although McCarthy said he "loved every minute" serving as speaker, and "wouldn't change a thing," he added that he would not run again for the position of House speaker. He said he had not thought about resigning his seat in Congress.

"If I lose my job over doing what I truly believe is right, I'm very at peace with it," McCarthy told reporters, adding he intends to make sure the GOP continues gaining seats and keeps its majority through the next election cycle.

Things looked differently back home in Bakersfield, where longtime Republican political strategist Cathy Abernathy blamed Democrats for McCarthy's exit, and local Democrats blamed Republicans — including the former speaker.

The Kern County Democratic Party noted McCarthy served the shortest tenure of any House speaker in modern history. It said that tenure was defined by "constant turbulence, unnecessary brinkmanship and an inability to stand up to the most extreme Trump loyalists within his own party."

Local Democratic Party Chairman Christian Romo added in a statement that Republicans had demonstrated they were willing to put their own political ambitions ahead of the good of the American people. Instead of working with Democrats to find a bipartisan solution, Romo added, McCarthy allowed extremists to take over the GOP and create chaos in the House.

McCarthy's challenger for California's 20th Congressional District seat in next year's election, Democrat Marisa Wood, said McCarthy was "suffering the consequences of selling his soul" and went on to blame him for political chaos in Washington.

But McCarthy's support among Republican leaders appeared strong following the House vote.