Ohio’s Jim Jordan Just Won the Race to Lead House Republicans — Here’s What Happens Next
Ohio is sending one of its own to the top of the House Republican leadership.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio was elected House minority leader on Tuesday, November 10, defeating House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana 106-73 in a closed-door secret ballot of Republicans who will serve in the next Congress. Jordan, 62, will succeed Speaker Mike Johnson as the chamber’s top Republican when Democrats take control of the House in January.
The vote came one week after Democrats swept the midterm elections, flipping both the House and the Senate. Democrats are expected to hold more than 250 seats in the new House, with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York expected to become the next speaker. The 120th Congress convenes January 3, 2027.
Jordan is no stranger to the fight for the top job — this was his third attempt at leading House Republicans, roughly eight years after he first launched a bid for the role. He is a co-founder and the first chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, and he currently chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee. Before Congress, he served in the Ohio House starting in 1994 and later in the Ohio Senate, and he was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University. He was first elected to Congress in 2006 and took office in January 2007.
House Republicans also voted to keep Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota as their whip in the next Congress.
What happens next depends on who you ask. Jordan’s supporters say Republicans chose one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest defenders to take the fight to Democrats and to lead the effort to win back the House majority. Others note the scale of the challenge: Jordan inherits a historically small Republican conference that is only beginning to grapple with its loss of power, while Democrats prepare a flurry of investigations aimed at the White House. As minority leader, Jordan will set the opposition’s message — but he will not control which bills reach the floor or how committees are run.
One thing is certain: when the new Congress gavels in this January, an Ohioan will be the face of the House Republican opposition.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Sources: Associated Press | USA Today | New York Post
