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Rep. Jim Jordan falls short of House speakership on first ballot

By Washington Post Staff Washington Post

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a conservative firebrand allied with former president Donald Trump, failed to win over enough Republican holdouts to reach a majority on the House floor.

Jordan received 200 of the required 217 votes. Twenty Republican holdouts cast votes for other members in their conference. Jordan will need to change the minds of 17 of them to win the gavel on the next round. After the first round Tuesday afternoon, it was unclear whether the House would immediately go into a second round of voting.

Jordan is seeking to succeed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was ousted as speaker two weeks ago. Jordan became the Republican nominee after Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the first choice of the GOP conference, withdrew from the race last week.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, received 212 votes from the unified Democratic caucus.

Six of the 18 House Republicans who represent districts that President Biden carried in 2020 - who are among the most vulnerable Republicans seeking reelection next year - voted for candidates other than Jordan.

They include Reps. Don Bacon (Neb.), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Ore.) and Michael Lawler (N.Y.), who voted for McCarthy; Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (N.Y.) and Nick LaLota (N.Y.), who voted for former congressman Lee Zeldin; and Rep. Jen A. Kiggans (Va.), who voted for Scalise.

Former president Donald Trump endorsed Jordan’s campaign for the speakership.

Ahead of the vote, House Minority Whip Katherine M. Clark (D-Mass.) told The Washington Post that Democrats remained “unified” against him, adding that Democrats will remain unified against Jordan until Republicans nominate someone who can reach across the aisle and deliver “a bipartisan way forward.”

“This isn’t about working with Jim Jordan for Democrats. This is about a decision point for Republicans,” Clark said, adding that Democrats are “clear-eyed” about the fact that the next House speaker will be a Republican.

“Is it one who is going to continue to choose extremism or is it one who is going to work with us to bring bipartisan bills to the floor and get back to work the American people need us to be focused on?” she asked.