Jordan breaks through, drawing surprise endorsements

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) now apparently has broken through in his quest for 217 votes for Speaker of the House. Two House members, who had been his bitterest rivals, have endorsed him this morning.

Jordan breaks through

The endorsements are in from Representatives:

Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Chairman of the House Republican Conference – and

Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif)., immediate former Speaker of the House.

This last endorsement comes as Trump supporters were still suspecting Rogers of colluding with Democrats to choose “anybody but Jordan.”

And somebody was colluding with Democrats, to be sure – but no one admitted who, or how many. But Rep. Jordan was quick to thank Rep. Rogers and call for unity and moving forward.

Yesterday Jordan had said this:

After Jordan won the nomination, he got this endorsement from his opponent, Austin Scott (R-Ga.):

Conservative commentators have taken notice:

Jim Hoft at The Gateway Pundit has a slightly more detailed treatment that credits “grassroots pressure.” He identified Rogers as one of the RINOs who had been plotting to support another candidate.

Rogers spoke of talking with the Ohioan about national defense spending, the appropriations process, and the annual Farm Bill. Appropriations had been the issue that had blown up the House two weeks ago. Rep. Matt Gaetz moved to vacate the chair after then-Speaker McCarthy went with Democrats to pass a Continuing Resolution. McCarthy’s deal with conservative Republicans had been to pass twelve appropriations bills and not an “Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.”

Given that state of affairs, Jordan might find McCarthy’s endorsement more important than Rogers’.

From other opposition members

Influencer Ian Jaeger, yesterday afternoon, identified Rogers and five other House members as the RINO opposition to Jordan.

Another user identified Rogers as the colleague who caused a near-altercation with Gaetz at the original Speaker vote in January.

Vern Buchanan identified himself to The Hill last week as adamant in his opposition. Buchanan has posted nothing since a four-post thread against antisemitism October 12. Don Bacon’s account is definitely active, but says nothing about the Speaker race. Rep. Gimenez, as of Friday October 13, was still agitating to reinstate McCarthy.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart has said nothing, either.

The House Republican Conference has 221 members. Jim Jordan needs the votes of 217 of them, including his own, to become Speaker.

Rogan “DC Draino” O’Handley has this list of the no votes as of this writing: