Congressman Steve King. (file photo)

Congressman Steve King. (file photo)

Iowa Congressman Steve King says the Florida congressman he’d been backing for House Speaker got just 43 votes in a private vote among House Republicans and Wisconsin’s Paul Ryan got 200. King then decided to cast his vote for Paul Ryan when the House took a public vote late last week.

“When you go out on the floor, Republicans need to stick together,” King says.

King says Ryan wants to “heal up” the divisions among Republicans in the U.S. House and King says his vote for Ryan sends the message that he is working “on the same cause.”

“I’m more effective in this kind of role, in this way,” King says. “I can work with Paul and I’m convinced that we are going to be able to work together to change the culture in the House of Representatives.”

King says former House Speaker John Boehner  was “heavy handed” and that’s why King and other conservatives “rose up” to push Boehner out. Boehner and King publicly clashed at times over some of King’s statements on immigration reform.

(Reporting by Dennis Morrice, KLEM, Le Mars; additional reporting by Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson)