Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Vol. VIII
Est. 2019

The Mind Shield

News · Opinion · Politics · Analysis

House Republicans reject Jim Jordan for speaker on the first ballot.

House Republicans reject Jim Jordan for speaker on the first ballot.
Republican House speaker nominee Jim Jordan of Ohio (center) talks to a staff member and Rep. Warren Davidson (right) just before the House of Representatives started voting on a new speaker Oct. 17, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) failed to secure the 217 votes needed to be elected speaker on the first ballot during a House floor Tuesday.

Jordan received 200 votes from House Republicans on the first ballot. Twenty Republicans cast their votes for other current and even former lawmakers.

Seven Republicans voted for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.)_ six voted for former speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and three voted for former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.).

Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Tom Cole (Okla.) and Mike Garcia received one vote each.

All 212 Democrats in the chamber voted for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y).

This means for the second time this year, the House Speaker will be decided on multiple ballots. In January, it took McCarthy 15 ballots over the course of four days to be elected to the position.

Jordan said there will be another vote later Tuesday.