House speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) was reelected to his post as leader of the Republican conference today, but the rebellion was stronger than expected.

Boehner received 215 votes of 408 votes cast. He needed 205 to win the speakership. Twenty-four Republicans voted for alternatives, with a 25th lawmaker voting present. Half of those “no” votes went to Representative Daniel Webster (R., Fla.), who was backed by Representative Steve King (R., Iowa.). King was one of the ringleaders of the rebellion.

The race was closer than the 215–24 result suggests: If 35 Republicans had voted against Boehner, he would not have received a majority of the votes and the question would have gone to a second ballot, which the rebels hoped would effectively deny him the speakership.

If all 435 House members had voted, the rebels would have needed just 29 votes to stop Boehner.

There being no rule that the House speaker must be a House member, two Republicans looked outside the chamber for leadership: Representative Curt Clawson (R., Fla.) voted for Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.), while Representative Gary Palmer (R., Ala.) voted for Senator Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.). On the Democratic side, Representative Jim Cooper (D., Tenn.) protested California Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s leadership of their party by voting for Colin Powell.