GOP nominates Rep. Paul Ryan as speaker, House set to OK

House Republicans nominated Rep. Paul Ryan on Wednesday to become the chamber's next speaker, rallying behind a youthful overachiever they hope will guide them out of weeks of internal feuding and disarray and point the party toward accomplishments they can highlight in next year's elections.

Ryan, R-Wis., was his party's 2012 vice presidential nominee and is considered a telegenic spokesman for conservative priorities. When the full House formally elects the 45-year-old as speaker Thursday, he will take charge of a chamber whose Republicans have been riven and rudderless since John Boehner, R-Ohio, stunned his colleagues by announcing his resignation from the top post last month.

Ryan won a secret-ballot election held in the same hearing room where GOP lawmakers last week grilled Hillary Rodham Clinton, the top Democratic presidential contender, on the deadly 2012 attacks on Americans in Benghazi, Libya.

Ryan defeated his main announced rival, Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida. Ryan received 200 votes and Webster 43. Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee got one vote, and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, who abandoned his bid for speaker, also got one.