Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan lost the first round of balloting in his bid to become the next U.S. House speaker. Twenty Republicans voted against him.
Jordan received 200 votes to Democrat Hakeem Jeffries’ 212. The GOP’s anti-Jordan contingent cast six votes for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, seven votes for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and three for former New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin, among other alternatives.
The 20 Republicans who voted against Jordan included House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, and a quartet of New York Republicans in purple districts.
An ally of Rep. Jim Jordan told reporters, “this is much worse than we expected.”
Flashback to January
The scene on the House floor Tuesday was reminiscent of January when it took 15 ballots to elect Kevin McCarthy as House speaker.
McCarthy was ousted last month when a small group of far-right conservative Republicans led by Matt Gaetz of Florida challenged his speakership.
The House went into recess following Tuesday’s vote. Jordan has pushed a second vote to Wednesday.
