Some members of the Republican Party House caucus are looking at “outsiders” to take over the leadership after the midterm election flipped at least 30 seats to the Democrats, according to Fox News.
According to Politico, some of the Republicans who survived are now out for blood.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) summed up the mood bluntly. “Somebody’s got to get fired,” he told Politico, explaining that he’s supporting challengers in each of the three top leadership contests “because we got our butts handed to us.”
Those contests are set for Tuesday. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) won’t be part of the new leadership team, but several of his top lieutenants are trying to hang on against rivals pitching “a clean break.”
The biggest showdown is for minority leader, where Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), a hard-right fixture who has spent two decades in the House but never held a senior leadership post, is taking on Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), who has been in the party’s top tier since 2014.
Jordan, selling himself as a reset, has criticized Johnson and Scalise for too often working “without a clear plan to survive the hour or the day in front of us.”
Scalise is leaning on his long track record as a fundraiser and the relationships he’s built with members over the years, according to the report. He’s also likely to draw support from Republicans who have never fully trusted Jordan. He argues that he helped steer the party through the last Democratic takeover in 2018 and is ready to do it again.
Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL) is in Scalise’s corner and said while there were no “bad options,” Scalise knows “how to go from the minority to the majority.”
“I think we need, more than ever, clarity of message and clarity of, this is what our agenda will be,” Haridopolos said.
The report notes that further down the ticket, the “incumbents face similar pressure.” Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) is trying to keep his job, which becomes the No. 2 post in the minority, against Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), head of the Republican Study Committee. Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-MI) is up against Reps. Erin Houchin (R-IN) and Greg Steube (R-FL).
According to Politico, “They are looking to capitalize on grumbling about McClain’s handling of party messaging.”
Stutzman, who is backing Jordan, Pfluger and Houchin, said the scale of the defeat demands new faces across the board.
“There’s got to be a change,” he complained before adding, “Look at college football. I mean, if you lose, coaches get fired.”
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