A Black lawmaker from Philly was in line to be Pa.’s first female House speaker. They elected a white guy instead.

Another white man.

That’s who was elected Tuesday to serve as the Pennsylvania House speaker, despite Democrats’ winning a majority of seats in the state House and planning to install the state’s first Black female speaker.

Instead, every House Democrat and more than a dozen Republicans voted for Rep. Mark Rozzi, a Democrat nominated by Rep. Jim Gregory (R., Blair), who touted a piece of legislation they’d worked on together.

The moment was supposed to be different for Rep. Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia), the Democratic leader.

Since Democrats declared they had a majority in November, members of the party had acknowledged her as the presumed speaker of the House. During a news conference the day after the November election, some members held signs that read “Speaker McClinton.” And in a speech at Pennsylvania Society — a December gathering in New York City of politicians, lobbyists, and business leaders — McClinton called the impending Jan. 3 vote “the first day of the rest of our lives.”

“I get one vote in leadership races and one in speaker races, but my colleagues have made this moment in history possible,” she told a crowd of lawmakers and aides then.

She would have been the first woman to be speaker in the institution’s more than 240 years, and just the second Black person. McClinton would have joined Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward and Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra Todd as the first women to lead their chambers.

Instead, three vacancies meant Republicans held a thin majority this week. McClinton didn’t have the votes.

» READ MORE: Sen. Kim Ward talks beating breast cancer, becoming the first female Senate president pro tempore

“Pennsylvania has had a history of really being inhospitable to women running for office, and for a Black woman to be the speaker would have been a significant historic moment,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. “It would also position her in such a way for statewide higher office, or even national office.”

McClinton still wields power as leader of the House Democrats. But, at least for now, her historic appointment won’t be so.

Democrats had won a razor-thin — 102-101 — majority of the House seats in November. However, one Democratic victor had died one month before the election, though his name appeared on the ballot. Two others resigned from the House after being elected to higher office.

An internal memo from McClinton to House Democrats obtained by The Inquirer offers a glimpse into potential next steps.

She wrote Rozzi “reaffirmed” that a special election to fill the three vacant seats would be held Feb. 7, a win for Democrats after Republicans sought to hold two of the elections in May. Lawyers for Democrats this week moved to dismiss a GOP lawsuit that aimed to invalidate the Feb. 7 special election date.

In the weeks before the Jan. 3 vote, Democrats had advised their colleagues to reject a GOP nomination for the House speakership, said one Democrat who spoke to The Inquirer on the condition of anonymity. When Rozzi accepted a Republican’s nomination, “all hell broke loose,” the Democrat said.

Rozzi’s House speakership came on the condition that he’d change his party affiliation to independent and would not caucus with Democrats or Republicans. In his acceptance speech, Rozzi said he’d be the state’s first “independent speaker” but told Democrats in a private meeting that he would remain a registered Democrat.

» READ MORE: The Pa. House speaker election is upending Harrisburg. ‘All hell broke loose.’

In her memo, McClinton acknowledged the gravity of the moment.

“We know this is an uncertain time,” she wrote, “but we appreciate your patience.”

But she publicly projected confidence in Rozzi, saying in a statement that “House Democrats were proud to elect Mark Rozzi, a lifelong Democrat and 10 year member of the Democratic Caucus, as Speaker of the House during this tumultuous time.”

Most House members are staying tight-lipped about the still-unusual House speaker election.

But State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D., Philadelphia) said in an interview that Rozzi was “the least worst option,” saying the party avoided a GOP speaker. Kenyatta hopes McClinton will become speaker, and said her support for Rozzi was politically savvy.

“I believe when we have full complement, Joanna will become speaker,” he said.

State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, a close McClinton ally, described her support of Rozzi as nimble, astute politicking. He said by backing Rozzi, she effectively called Republicans’ bluff.

“Again, a very smart leader, [McClinton] understood the wisdom of the moment, along with her colleagues,” he said.

Asked how McClinton is handling the disappointment of not being named speaker, Williams said: “She’s strong. ... She’s a smart person. She knew the hand she was being dealt, and she delivered on the hand.”

McClinton spoke briefly with reporters immediately after Tuesday’s vote.

“I’m excited today that we were able to elect a Democrat from amongst our ranks to the speakership here in the House of Representatives for the first time in more than 10 years,” she said.

Asked whether she was committed to a full two-year session of Rozzi’s speakership, McClinton kept silent.

Staff writers Jonathan Lai and Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.