GOP leader McCarthy fails for third day in bitter House speaker fight

(Jose Luis Magana/AP)

The House stalemate over choosing a new speaker has held firm through a long, excruciating third day and evening of voting with no conclusion.

Long after darkness, glimmers of a deal with far-right holdouts were emerging. But the day’s tally was dismal: party leader Kevin McCarthy lost seventh, eighth and then historic ninth, 10th and 11th rounds of voting, surpassing the number of 100 years ago in the last drawn-out fight to choose a speaker.