The favorite is Jim Jordan, who belongs to the extremist Republican minority, but was not elected in the first round
Two weeks after the no-confidence vote that removed Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party began voting on Tuesday evening to choose his successor. The main candidate is Jim Jordan, 59, a congressman from Ohio, an expression of the most extreme faction of the party and one of Donald Trump’s most loyal aides.
To be elected, Jordan needs 217 votes, all of which will come from within his party; The Democrats’ opposing votes are given and certain. Jordan did not receive a majority in the first vote. The main people who voted against him were the so-called “Biden District Republicans”, i.e. those Republican parliamentarians who were elected in the 2022 midterm elections in districts that voted for the Democrat Joe Biden as president of the country in 2020, and who therefore have a special interest have to show themselves to be moderates or centrists in order to be re-elected in the next round of elections.
The voting process for House speaker — effectively a House president but with a very operational role — could take a long time: In January, it took 15 rounds to get McCarthy elected. This time, Jordan said Republicans would do their best to get a new speaker by the end of the day.
The removal of McCarthy from the speaker’s role has further highlighted the deep identity crisis of Republicans, who have tended to take increasingly extreme positions over the years and whose policies are often determined by an even more radical and aggressive minority. The votes of eight MPs (plus those of the Democrats) were enough for the vote of no confidence against McCarthy. Jordan’s election would be another victory for the party’s extremist component.
– Also read: The Identity Crisis of American Republicans
Since 2006, Jim Jordan has been the Assemblyman for Ohio’s 4th District, a district that Republicans have won continuously since 1939. In 2015, he founded the House Freedom Caucus, a group that brings together some of the most conservative Republican representatives. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives and fellow party member John Boehner called him a “legislative terrorist” to underline his particularly radical positions. Since 2016, he has become one of Donald Trump’s most loyal allies, being part of his defense team during the first impeachment and then playing a significant role in the attempt to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election.
He refused to cooperate with the commission of inquiry into the attack on Congress on January 6, 2021 and only responded after an official injunction. Since January, he has been chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, a position that has allowed him to launch some investigations into President Joe Biden.
Jordan with then-President Donald Trump in 2018 (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
His political positions are extremely reactionary on virtually every issue, from abortion to the rights of LGBTQ+ people, from the right to bear arms to the effects of climate change. In foreign policy, the part of the party that, like Jordan, relies on the motto “America First,” has repeatedly shown itself to be unconvinced of the need to continue to support Ukraine militarily and economically.
These and other positions make him the expression of a minority even among Republicans, a party that is generally becoming less and less moderate. He was among the supporters of McCarthy’s removal (delivered by Representative Matt Gaetz) and then among the opponents of his replacement by Steve Scalise, the first candidate for the role of speaker, who gave up on Friday due to the impossibility of reaching an agreement with the party .
For this reason, a significant part of the Republicans initially intended not to support his candidacy, also in order not to reward the maneuvers of the minority of the most extreme right. However, Jordan’s staff and his supporters within the party have waged a very determined and apparently effective pressure campaign in recent days. They bet that the vote in the chamber would be open rather than secret, identifying the MPs who opposed his candidacy and mobilizing the party base against them.
Jim Jordan with Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman who introduced the motion to remove McCarthy (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Amy Kremer, a political activist at the head of the group Women for America First and an organizer of some of the demonstrations that preceded the Jan. 6 attack on Congress, posted online a list of 12 lawmakers who opposed Jordan’s election and announced the phone number from to their offices and invite their followers to call them to ask about the decision. According to sources cited by the Washington Post, other pressure would have come from Sean Hannity, a friend of Jordan and one of the most popular and discussed presenters on the right-wing television network Fox News. In the four days that passed between the announcement of Jordan’s candidacy and the vote, many MPs who opposed or were unsure were also convinced by fear of going against the television networks and the bitter base of the party’s far right.
Some influential members of Congress, such as Mike D. Rogers of Alabama, radically changed their opinion of Jordan after clearly opposing his election and justifying the choice with private conversations in which they had received assurances. Others have said that they tend to vote for him only to allow Congress to function and legislate (as long as the speaker is vacant, activity is effectively suspended). Only about ten MPs continue to say they oppose his election, a number that could theoretically be enough to prevent Jordan from being elected: to be elected, he needs 217 votes; the Republicans have 222 MPs.
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