As your member of Congress, I pledge to begin my term with a vote against Newt Gingrich for speaker of the House.

Brad Sherman · California · Democratic

oversight impact 0.61 specificity 0.98 extraction confidence 99%

Contest this claim

Occurrences

As your member of Congress, I pledge to begin my term with a vote against Newt Gingrich for speaker of the House.

Sherman commits to voting against Gingrich for Speaker at the start of the term.

Avoid the Mistakes of the Past - Los Angeles Times
primary · campaign_site · model gpt-5.4-mini

Evidence

During a May 22, 1996 congressional debate, Sherman said he was making Gingrich an issue in the race and was "pledging not to vote for him as speaker if elected."

Campaign-era reporting documents Sherman publicly promising not to support Newt Gingrich for speaker if elected to Congress.

delivered same_term

Sherman, Sybert Face Off in Debate
secondary · model gpt-5.4-mini · confidence 95%

Contest this evidence item

The House clerk's roll call for the 105th Congress speaker election shows Brad Sherman of California voting for Dick Gephardt, while Newt Gingrich received 216 votes and was elected speaker.

Sherman did not vote for Gingrich in the first House speaker election of his term; he voted for Gephardt instead, satisfying the pledge.

delivered same_term

Roll Call 3 | Election of the Speaker - Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
secondary · model gpt-5.4-mini · confidence 99%

Contest this evidence item

Assessments

delivered same_term

Sherman’s promise was specific to his first speaker vote at the start of his congressional term. In the 105th Congress speaker election on January 7, 1997, he voted for Dick Gephardt rather than Newt Gingrich. Because the pledge was to begin his term with a vote against Gingrich for speaker, and he did exactly that in his initial speaker vote, the promise was fulfilled in the same term.

provider codex_cli · model gpt-5.4 · confidence 99%