House speaker drama resumes; 9 contenders try to unite GOP

House Republicans will try again to appoint a speaker, with nine new candidates pitching themselves as the one to unite at least 217 of the 221 Republicans.

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October 23, 2023 - 2:26 PM

U.S. Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) speaks to the media as he leaves a closed-door House Republican meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 20. Photo by (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/TNS)

WASHINGTON – House Republicans return Monday to their quest for a unicorn – a congressman trusted enough by moderates and the far-right alike to become speaker and end weeks of backbiting and paralysis.

It’s usually not this hard.

Nine candidates spent the weekend pitching themselves to colleagues as the one who can unite at least 217 of the 221 Republicans and fill the job that’s been vacant since Oct. 3.

Rep. Pete Sessions, now in his 13th term, is among the contenders. He led the party’s House campaign effort in the 2010 midterms, when Republicans picked up 63 seats in the biggest landslide since 1938.

He’s up against current members of leadership and rising stars of the hard right, though none are household names outside their own districts or, maybe, their state.

They all see themselves as uniters, though it’s hard to lead when people refuse to follow. And as the GOP civil war has raged it’s become clear that hardliners aren’t keen on empowering moderates and vice versa.

Ask Kevin McCarthy, pushed out after just 9 months when a mere 8 back-benchers rebelled. He’d spent years positioning himself for the speakership, collecting chits through prodigious fundraising on behalf of candidates and working his way up the leadership ladder.

When the job slipped away from him, two senior and broadly popular underlings tried to fill it. Neither came close to hitting 217: Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio.

Scalise got the nomination first but dropped out when Jordan backers refused to fall in line. Jordan ended up stymied by 25 defections on the third humiliating ballot in the full House on Friday, after which the majority of the conference – meaning, the tally included many who truly wanted him to become speaker – stripped him of the nomination.

Of the nine who stepped up after, most go unrecognized by tourists in the marble halls of the Capitol, and are rarely swarmed by reporters eager for insight from insiders.

Who are the 

contenders?

• Sessions, one of 25 Texas Republicans, the most of any state.

• Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, third in leadership behind the speaker and majority leader. Far-right Republican activists have accused Mr. Emmer of being insufficiently supportive of former President Donald J. Trump. 

• Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama, two slots below Emmer as chair of the House Republican Policy Committee. A member of the Freedom Caucus, Palmer keeps a lower profile than many of his deeply conservative counterparts.

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