House Republicans Pick Jim Jordan To Lead Them After Election Wipeout

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) will succeed Speaker Mike Johnson as the next leader of House Republicans, defeating Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) 106-73 in a leadership battle as the party reels from a midterm wipeout.

Jordan, the current House Judiciary Committee chairman and a longtime favorite of the GOP’s conservative wing, will lead Republicans into the minority following an election that left the party deeply divided and its ranks sharply reduced. 

“In these next two years, our job cannot be merely to spotlight how radical this new Democrat party is–offense, not defense, wins elections,” Jordan wrote in a letter to colleagues. “For too long, we have operated without a clear plan to survive the hour or the day in front of us. That will not cut it against an emboldened and energetic Democrat majority.”

“I am battle-tested on the oversight front, and I know the Democrats’ playbook,” he added. ” I know what it will take to lead our Conference in the minority, to stay unified, and to coordinate and calibrate our response to the Democrats’ tactics.”

Scalise, who has served in House GOP leadership for about 12 years, also launched a bid for the top leadership post. The secret ballot offered no indication of how individual members voted, and President Donald Trump stayed out of the leadership contest.

The morning after the Nov. 3 election, Johnson announced he would step down from leadership after Democrats won their largest House majority in decades.

“It’s only happened twice in 90 years that a sitting president has picked up or held seats for his party in that first two-year cycle,” Johnson told supporters in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. “It’s very, very difficult to overcome, and it looks like history will be kept here tonight.”