House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) remains deeply unpopular with voters as he seeks votes to become the new Speaker of the House of Representatives in January.

• According to RealClearPolitics, McCarthy has the second lowest "favourability" amongst US political leaders, after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
• McCarthy took the GOP nomination to become the next Speaker in a 188-31 vote but he will need 218 votes when the decision is put to a full House vote in January.
• Four House Republicans - Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Matthew Rosendale (R-MO), and Bob Good (R-VA) - have publicly stated their opposition to McCarthy’s leadership bid with others Republican reps reportedly wavering on McCarthy.
• Good said this week: “I believe we have at least a dozen or so that are strong, courageous, that will do what needs to be done on the House floor to ensure that we get an improvement in the speaker situation.”
• If McCarthy can't get his reps to commit to his candidacy, the GOP will have to find a unity candidate or risk handing the Speaker's gavel to Democrats.

Chart 1: US Political Leaders "Favourability" (RealClearPolitics)