JONATHAN ERNST/Reuters
The House GOP’s two-week leadership crisis will continue after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) fell well short of the votes needed to win the speakership on the first ballot Tuesday.
Ultimately, 20 Republicans voted for someone other than Jordan—nearly seven times as many as he could afford to lose.
There was no viable alternative candidate: seven voted for Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and six voted for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, both of whom are not currently running. Three New Yorkers voted for former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), who has not expressed interest in running. One voted for Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA), which seemed to surprise Garcia, and Tom Emmer (R-MN), Tom Cole (R-OK), and Thomas Massie (R-KY) all got one vote as well.