Several House Republicans are running for speaker in the fourth round of voting after nominees Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) failed to receive the 217 votes necessary to become top leader of the House.
As of Sunday afternoon, nine House GOP members are throwing their hats in for speaker, representing a wide range of ideologies within the Republican Party. The winner will replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who was ousted from the speakership on Oct. 3.
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Achieving the speaker’s gavel will be an uphill battle for each candidate, given Scalise and Jordan were unable to receive the majority of Republican votes. Jordan lost three rounds of speaker votes, losing 20 Republican votes the first time, 22 Republicans the second, and 25 Republicans on the third.
Here are the nine members running for speaker, with a vote expected to take place on Tuesday.
Jack Bergman (R-MI)
Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) announced his candidacy for speaker on Friday. A retired U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General, Bergman’s office said he is “widely respected on both sides of the aisle” for his national security experience and can work with members of both parties.
“My hat is in the ring, and I feel confident I can win the votes where others could not. I have no special interests to serve; I’m only in this to do what’s best for our Nation and to steady the ship for the 118th Congress,” Bergman said in a statement. “What we need right now is a Speaker who has experience leading and can put ego aside to work together for the American people. We need a leader who shuns permanent power and recognizes the current crisis of leadership. I’m ready to serve. Together we can end the deadlock, and win the vote.”
So far, Bergman has four endorsements from Reps. Tim Walberg (R-MI), John James (R-MI), John Moolenaar (R-MI), and Lisa McClain (R-MI).
Byron Donalds (R-FL)
Rep. Bryon Donalds (R-FL) announced his intent to run for speaker on Friday, just a few hours after the GOP dropped Jordan as the party’s nominee. He is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, the hard-line conservative wing of the Republican Party.
Reps. Cory Mills (R-FL) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) are throwing their support behind Donalds. Diaz-Balart voted for Scalise during the first three speakership rounds.
“I am running to become the next Speaker of the House. We need to secure our border, fund our government responsibility, advance our conservative agenda, [and] expand our Republican majority,” Donalds said in a post to X. “Let’s get to work!”
Donalds and Scalise were floated as alternatives to McCarthy back in January when it took the former speaker 15 rounds to secure the gavel. At one point, 20 Republicans voted for Donalds at the beginning of the year to be speaker.
Tom Emmer (R-MN)
Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) is running for House speaker, with endorsements from McCarthy and Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Pete Stauber (R-MN), and Brad Finstad (R-MN). He is the highest-ranking Republican in the race. At No. 3, his job is to “whip,” or count votes, to pass the speaker’s agenda.
Emmer was floated as a possible speaker candidate before the nomination went to Scalise. The majority whip only received one vote —from Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) — during each speakership round.
McCarthy said during a Sunday interview on NBC News’s Meet the Press that Emmer “sets himself head and shoulders above all those others who want to run.”
Emmer is considered a front-runner in the race but could face similar struggles that plagued Scalise. Hardline conservatives from the House Freedom Caucus have accused Emmer of not being supportive enough of former President Donald Trump, while centrist Republicans are unhappy he would not support a measure to expand Rep. Patrick McHenry’s (R-NC) interim speaker powers.
Kevin Hern (R-OK)
Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) is running to be the next House speaker. He is the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a post that often works as a jumping-off point to higher leadership positions.
While having the same hard-line conservative ideals as McCarthy that appeal to members of the House Freedom Caucus, Hern is also considered to be a more centrist option than Jordan.
However, he is a loyal supporter of Trump and supported the former president’s debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Hern joined 146 other House Republicans in voting against certifying the 2020 election, which could put off support from moderate Republicans.
Hern initially bowed out of the contest following McCarthy’s removal, stating that a three-man race between Jordan, Scalise, and himself would hurt the party. Now, he is pitching himself as a unifier.
“It’s pretty obvious that our delegation is looking at something to be different than what we’ve seen so far,” he told reporters on Friday. “I bring a different perspective than possibly anybody else that could be running in this race.”
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Mike Johnson (R-LA)
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), an ally of Jordan’s, is running to replace him as the GOP nominee for speaker.
Johnson is the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee and a member of the House Judiciary Committee. He announced his candidacy for speaker on Saturday.
“I have been humbled to have so many Members from across our Conference reach out to encourage me to seek the nomination for Speaker,” Johnson said in a “Dear Colleague” letter. “Until yesterday, I had never contacted one person about this, and I have never before aspired to the office.”
“However, after much prayer and deliberation, I am stepping forward now,” he added.
Dan Meuser (R-PA)
Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA) is running to become the next speaker. He has served in Congress since 2019.
He said in a post to X on Saturday that his campaign message will be “focused on politics of inclusion” and engaging “every member of the Republican conference” in policymaking and communications.
“If there is a candidate who embraces that vision and has a better chance of getting 217 votes, I will support them,” Meuser said. “I care about helping create a team that works together and gets results. I believe ‘the show’ should be about the Members and not about the Speaker’s Office.”
Gary Palmer (R-AL)
Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) is running to replace McCarthy as speaker. As the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, he is the No. 5 Republican in the House.
Palmer is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and was elected to Congress in 2014. He supported Jordan’s candidacy for speaker until the Ohio Republican was removed as the nominee.
Like Hern, the Alabama representative voted against certifying the 2020 election results.
Austin Scott (R-GA)
Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) became a surprise candidate for speaker last week after he received 81 votes in the conference against Jordan when Scalise dropped out. Scott was the freshman class president for the 112th Congress.
As an ally of McCarthy, he was outraged after the California Republican was removed by eight Republicans, calling them “nothing more than grifters,” per the New York Times. He told CNN that he decided to run because “we have to do the right thing the right way. That’s something that we as a conference are not doing right now.”
“When I woke up this morning, I had no intentions of doing this. It took me a long time to even get to my wife to tell her to call all our friends and be in prayer because we haven’t done any preparation or any whipping or anything for this,” he said Friday, the day he announced his candidacy.
Pete Sessions (R-TX)
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) is the longest-serving member of Congress who is running for speaker so far. He began serving in 1997 until 2019 when he was defeated by a Democrat in 2018. Sessions ran for a seat in a neighboring district and won, returning to Congress in 2021.
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Previously, Sessions has led the Republican conference as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and as chairman of the House Rules Committee. He said in an interview with Newsmax that he is running because of his years in Republican leadership.
“I am running for Speaker of the House because I know what it will take to move the Republican Party forward,” Sessions said in a post to X on Saturday. “During my six-year tenure as Chairman of the House Rules Committee, I helped usher a conservative agenda through Congress. It’s time to get back to work for the American people.”
