Speaker Succession Battle: House Republicans Weigh In on Candidates Jordan, Scalise

Multiple candidates are expected to be nominated but an Ohio Republican and one from Louisiana are widely considered among colleagues as the frontrunners.

(Left) Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images); (Right) Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.). Samuel Corum/Getty Images

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is promoting to his Republican colleagues a plan for rapidly moving major spending bills through the lower chamber if he is chosen as speaker of the House next week, but Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) will have something to say about that decision.

Both men are long-serving congressional conservatives who enjoy wide support in the House Republican Conference, but they likely didn’t expect to find themselves in 2023 as the two leading candidates to succeed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).