House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Wednesday he will run to lead the Republican minority in Congress next year, after Democrats won the majority back in Tuesday’s midterm election.
“[W]e need to lay the groundwork to regain the majority so that we can continue working alongside President Trump to fulfill our promise to fundamentally change Washington. I helped build a majority from a deeper hole than this and I have what it takes to do it again,” McCarthy wrote in a letter to his Republican colleagues. “That is why I have decided to run for Republican Leader and humbly ask for your support.”
McCarthy’s announcement came hours after Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said he’ll also launch a bid for the minority leader position. Like McCarthy, Jordan was ready to run for House Speaker if Republicans were able to hang onto the House.
Unlike a speaker’s race, McCarthy will only need a majority of the House GOP conference to win the post, not a majority of all House members.
McCarthy’s move headlined a day full of jockeying for posts among House Republicans. Along with him and Jordan, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., announced her bid for House GOP conference chair, the No. 3 spot in leadership. Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., the outgoing chair of the Republican Study Committee, revealed his planned bid to replace Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., as the conference’s vice chairman.
Collins is expected to push for the ranking member position on the House Judiciary Committee. The leadership election is slated for next Wednesday.
If Republicans had held the House, McCarthy was viewed as the favorite to win the speaker’s gavel due in large part to his work to protect the House and fundraising for candidates and committees throughout the past two years. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., endorsed him to replace him.
