- Jim Jordan hemorrhaged even more votes during the third vote on his speakership bid on Friday.
- It's the lowest percentage of votes for the majority party's nominee since 1859.
Believe it or not, Rep. Jim Jordan is still trying to become the next speaker of the House.
The Ohio Republican called a third vote on his speakership bid on Friday, despite all signs pointing to yet another failure — and the likelihood that he would hemorrhage further votes.
Sure enough, 25 Republicans voted against Jordan on Friday, more than the 22 who voted against him on Wednesday and the 20 who voted against him on Tuesday.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Tom Kean of New Jersey, and Marc Molinaro of New Jersey joined the group of Republican holdouts.
Altogether, Jordan received just 194 votes, or slightly more than 45% of the total votes cast.
That's the lowest percentage of votes for the majority party's speaker nominee since December 1859, when the leading candidate received just 35% of the vote on the first ballot, and the House took eight weeks of voting to arrive at a conclusion.
No one really knows why he's still doing this.
"Not sure of the strategy," Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, a Jordan supporter and one of the eight Republicans who voted to topple Kevin McCarthy, told Insider on Friday morning. "But it's Jim's decision."
The Friday vote comes after a chaotic Thursday for House Republicans. Hoping to buy more time to win over holdouts, Jordan backed a plan to temporarily grant expanded powers to Rep. Patrick McHenry, the current acting speaker pro tempore. But right-wing Republicans rebelled against the idea, and the idea was quickly dropped.
It's unclear what happens next. Jordan's allies have remained defiant in the face of their slipping odds, and one suggested on Thursday that voting would continue through the weekend.
—Warren Davidson (@WarrenDavidson) October 19, 2023
If Jordan drops out, there are other potential candidates waiting in the wings — but it's unclear that anyone in the GOP conference can get the 217 votes necessary to claim the gavel.
While the idea of empowering McHenry is dead for now, Democrats have expressed openness to the idea, contingent upon further details. And several of the anti-Jordan hold outs who had previously casted protest votes for McCarthy instead cast them for McHenry on Friday.
Here are the 25 Republicans who voted against Jordan on Friday:
- Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska
- Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida
- Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado
- Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon
- Rep. Anthony D'Eposito of New York
- Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida
- Rep. Jake Ellzey of Texas
- Rep. Drew Ferguson of Georgia
- Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
- Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York
- Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida
- Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas
- Rep. Kay Granger of Texas
- Rep. John James of Michigan
- Rep. Tom Kean of New Jersey
- Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania
- Rep. Jen Kiggans of Virginia
- Rep. Nick LaLota of New York
- Rep. Mike Lawler of New York
- Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa
- Rep. Marc Molinaro of New York
- Rep. John Rutherford of Florida
- Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho
- Rep. Pete Stauber of Minnesota
- Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas