On Tuesday, Republican Jim Jordan Encounters an Initial Hurdle in Speaker Pursuit.Following opposition from 20 Ohio Republicans, Jordan was forced to withdraw his bid for the coveted role.
The vote, which fell short of gaining a majority in the entire House, was a source of disappointment for Jim Jordan’s fellow Republicans who had hoped that the holdout numbers would be in the single digits.
After the initial vote, the House came to a standstill, and Jordan found himself at odds with his fellow party members who supported an alternative candidate for the Speaker’s office.
Former Speaker John Boehner’s unprecedented lack of involvement has now become a topic of discussion after the vote. The House’s slim margin is the very reason Boehner was ousted by the hands of a group of eight GOP rebels, and now a similar-sized faction of House Republicans could potentially impede Jordan’s rise to power.”
Today’s vote: Twenty Republicans voted against Jim Jordan, including Texas’s House Operations Chairwoman Granger, Florida’s Republican Mario Diaz-Balart, Colorado’s Republican Ken Buck, and a group of New York Republicans in various districts. Jordan’s opposition group cast eight votes for McCarthyn for Speaker, seven for Scalise, and three for New York’s former GOP representative Lee Zeldin.
What GOP is saying: GOP representative Doug LaMalfa, who had been a long-time ally of Kevin McCarthy, the Speaker whom they voted for on the first ballot, told reporters they would vote for Jim Jordan on the second ballot. Carlos Gimenez, a GOP representative who voted for Kevin McCarthy during the final vote, said they won’t vote for Jim Jordan but would consider other alternatives.
What Democrats are saying: House Democrats all voted for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who received more votes for Speaker, 212 to 200, than Jordan. After the objections to the 2020 election results and the January 6 committee dismissals, the Democrats rejected the possibility of Jordan becoming Speaker. While House Democrats had previously said they would support Jeffries for Speaker in the previous Congress, some discussions were held about potentially helping an alternative consensus candidate.
What’s next:Jim Jordan initially discussed a second vote taking place on Tuesday, but reporters were told that the House would reconvene for a second vote on Wednesday at 11 AM ET. As Jordan meets with several members in the hope of changing critical holdout votes, GOP sources suggest that if multiple rounds of voting continue, the opposition against him may grow.
In the race for the GOP nominee for House Speaker, Jim Jordan faced a challenging hurdle right out of the gate. On the initial vote, he fell short of securing the coveted gavel.
Prominent GOP Appropriations Leader Withholds Support for Jim Jordan in Speaker Nomination Vote
To win the nomination, Jordan had to ensure he didn’t lose more than three votes from his fellow Republicans, assuming all the Democrats were present. He managed to secure 200 votes, but it was House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries who emerged victorious with 212 votes. Interestingly, 20 of Jordan’s fellow Republicans voted against him.
Notable among the 20 Republicans who didn’t back Jordan were House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, and a group of New York Republicans from purple districts.
Interestingly, the anti-Jordan faction didn’t coalesce around a single alternative. Instead, they cast their votes among various candidates, with six votes going to McCarthy, seven for Scalise, and three for former New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin, among other options.
This initial vote set the stage for what promises to be an intriguing and closely watched race for the position of House Speaker.