It took 15 votes, but Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was elected by the incoming 118th Congress as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.
It took that many votes because McCarthy faced a rebellion from more conservative members of his caucus. With a small majority in the House, McCarthy needed every vote he could get from the caucus to wield the Speaker’s gavel. Through 14 previous ballots, he failed to get the support of these members.
Ultimately, he got their votes by cutting a deal and agreeing to multiple concessions at the price of his new power. The most far-reaching of these concessions involved
